The Rules of Magic

A Novel

By: Alice Hoffman

Narrated by: Marin Ireland

An instant New York Times bestseller and Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick from beloved author Alice Hoffman—the spellbinding prequel to Practical Magic.

Find your magic.

For the Owens family, love is a curse that began in 1620, when Maria Owens was charged with witchery for loving the wrong man.

Hundreds of years later, in New York City at the cusp of the sixties, when the whole world is about to change, Susanna Owens knows that her three children are dangerously unique. Difficult Franny, with skin as pale as milk and blood red hair, shy and beautiful Jet, who can read other people’s thoughts, and charismatic Vincent, who began looking for trouble on the day he could walk.

From the start Susanna sets down rules for her children: No walking in the moonlight, no red shoes, no wearing black, no cats, no crows, no candles, no books about magic. And most importantly, never, ever, fall in love. But when her children visit their Aunt Isabelle, in the small Massachusetts town where the Owens family has been blamed for everything that has ever gone wrong, they uncover family secrets and begin to understand the truth of who they are. Yet, the children cannot escape love even if they try, just as they cannot escape the pains of the human heart. The two beautiful sisters will grow up to be the memorable aunts in Practical Magic, while Vincent, their beloved brother, will leave an unexpected legacy.

Alice Hoffman delivers “fairy-tale promise with real-life struggle” (The New York Times Book Review) in a story how the only remedy for being human is to be true to yourself. Thrilling and exquisite, real and fantastical, The Rules of Magic is “irresistible…the kind of book you race through, then pause at the last forty pages, savoring your final moments with the characters” (USA TODAY, 4/4 stars).

Loved it

I love stories that remind me of my youth. It made it even better since I also grew up in NYC and related on a deeper level. The story made me giggle, smile, and cry. It also made me a believer in Magic.

Loved it

This book was so enthralling I couldn't stop listening! I was personally not a fan of Practical Magic, and this book was everything I had hoped for when I purchased Practical Magic.

Spellbinding

Alice Hoffman has always been one of my favorite authors, and this story is my favorite of all she has created. The characters are so vividly drawn and the narrative so compelling, with lovely narration, that I will listen to it again and give hardcopies as gifts to my sisters and mother.

Audiobooks hit or miss

This book was really awoke some sort of young fangirl in me; I loved Practical Magic so much I forgave it's quirks and did so with The Rules of Magic.

If you read any Francesca Lia Block as a teenager (I'm a millennial) you will love this new novel by Alice Hoffman.

this is well written, but also sadly depressing.

if you are looking for a pick-me-up kind of story, this is not your book. there are beautifully described scenes, scents and emotions, and I liked the narrator's voice, but i also had to be in the right state of mind to listen to it. I imagine this will eventually become a series of movies for pre-teens, etc.