Alice Hoffman’s THE RULES OF MAGIC is truly spellbinding
The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman Also by this author: Faithful, Practical Magic
Published by Simon & Schuster on October 10th 2017
Genres: Fiction, Fantasy
Pages: 384
Source: Netgalley
Amazon
Goodreads
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
MY REVIEW:
Last year I read and reviewed Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic on my blog. As much as I enjoyed the read overall, I remember that my one disappointment was that I really wanted to know more about Sally and Gillian’s aunts. The aunts just always seemed to pop up out of nowhere whenever they were needed and were just so mysterious and intriguing, even though they were only secondary characters. At times I actually found myself more interested in the aunts than in Sally and Gillian. I had no idea at the time I was writing about my thoughts on Practical Magic that Hoffman was already actively writing a prequel to Practical Magic that would give me exactly what I wanted, a back story for those two aunts. There was actual flailing on my part as soon as I heard about The Rules of Magic and I was truly over the moon when Simon and Schuster provided me with an advance review copy.
So did The Rules of Magic live up to my expectations? YES! It was everything I wanted it to be and even more. Memorable and loveable characters, gorgeous storytelling, and exquisite prose, The Rules of Magic truly has it all!
The Rules of Magic follows the Owens children, Franny, Jet, and Vincent as they are growing up in 1960’s New York City. Their mother, Susanna, knows that her children are unusual, perhaps even dangerously so. To keep them from drawing unnecessary and unwanted attention to themselves, Susanna has a list of rules that she insists they follow at all times: no walking in the moonlight, no cats, no crows, no wearing black, no red shoes, and no books about magic. And the most important rule of all, never ever fall in love. That last rule dates all the way back to 1620, when their ancestor Maria Owens was charged with witchery for loving the wrong man. Ever since then, love has been a curse for the Owens family. Susanna fights so hard to protect them from the curse because she herself has been a victim of it.
No matter how much Susanna tries to shield them, however, Franny, Jet, and Vincent soon begin to realize how different they really are and want to know more about themselves and about their family history. Franny discovers that she can communicate with birds, Jet realizes that she can read other people’s thoughts, and Vincent finds he is able to charm anyone and everyone around him without even trying and sometimes whether he wants to or not. They secretly begin to experiment more to see what other special powers they may have. A trip to the town in Massachusetts where Maria Owens was charged with witchery leads the children to uncover old family secrets and thus to begin to understand the truth of who they really are. Once they return to New York City, each of them begins their own potentially dangerous journey of self discovery. They also learn that there is no way they can escape love and so must determine if there is a way to escape the family curse so that they aren’t doomed to be alone.
The Rules of Magic is a beautiful, heartwarming and, at times, heartbreaking story of family, love, loss, acceptance, and finding oneself.
The Characters. Franny, Jet, and Vincent are just such wonderfully drawn characters. I fell in love with them immediately. Not only were they fascinating characters individually, but I also adored their sibling bond. They’re all so loyal and protective of each other. Watching Franny and Jet, in particular, and just knowing they would grow up to be the aunts in Practical Magic was just thrilling and made what was already a beautiful journey even more captivating. I don’t want to give away any details about their individual journeys, but I’ll just say that Hoffman is a master storyteller and each journey is equally compelling and unique because each of the children feels differently about what their family history means and what their own powers mean. I was so invested in each of them and hoping they would find a way to have everything they want. When they were happy, I was right there cheering for them, and when they experienced tragedy, I grieved right alongside them.
Hoffman’s Prose. Every time I read one of Alice Hoffman’s books, my immediate thought is “Man, I wish I could write like she does.” And this book was no exception. In fact, I was even more enamored than ever before by her writing. Her prose is truly exquisite and even though I hate to sound cliché, it’s spellbinding. The words just flow so smoothly and naturally and yet read like poetry all at the same time. The Rules of Magic, in particular, is full of colors, smells, sounds, and beautiful images. I felt like all of my senses were engaged the entire time I was reading.
The Setting. We travel many places during the course of this novel – 1960’s New York, Massachusetts, and even Paris – and Hoffman captures the atmosphere of each location perfectly. I especially loved the way she captured the lower Manhattan area and gave it such a forbidden, taboo quality. Equally fascinating was taking us to the street in Massachusetts where the aunts lived in Practical Magic and showing how the Owens history permeates that entire area. I also thought it was fabulous how Hoffman incorporates details from the Salem Witch Trials into her narrative, and especially her inclusion of John Hathorne, who was an actual judge during those trials.
Works Perfectly as a Standalone. Even though this is technically a prequel of Practical Magic, the way Hoffman has written it, you don’t need to have read Practical Magic to enjoy The Rules of Magic. Hoffman does a beautiful job of inserting some subtle nods to Practical Magic, which gave me a few OMG, YAY! nostalgic moments as I was reading, but The Rules of Magic is a beautiful story in its own right even without any ties to the other novel.
I could go on for days about all of the things I adored about this book, so I’m just going to stop now before I give away all of the important details, haha.
None! For me, The Rules of Magic is about as perfect as it gets. It will definitely be on my list of favorite reads for 2017.
If you love stories about magic and witches, this is your book. If you enjoy books about love, family, and finding oneself, this is your book. And by all means, if you loved Practical Magic, you’re going to want to read The Rules of Magic. It’s the prequel you probably didn’t even know you needed in your life. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS
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. Back in New York City each begins a risky journey as they try to escape the family curse.
The Owens 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 revered, and sometimes feared, aunts in Practical Magic, while Vincent, their beloved brother, will leave an unexpected legacy.
About Alice Hoffman
Alice Hoffman was born in New York City on March 16, 1952 and grew up on Long Island. After graduating from high school in 1969, she attended Adelphi University, from which she received a BA, and then received a Mirrellees Fellowship to the Stanford University Creative Writing Center, which she attended in 1973 and 74, receiving an MA in creative writing. She currently lives in Boston.
Hoffman’s first novel, Property Of, was written at the age of twenty-one, while she was studying at Stanford, and published shortly thereafter by Farrar Straus and Giroux. She credits her mentor, professor and writer Albert J. Guerard, and his wife, the writer Maclin Bocock Guerard, for helping her to publish her first short story in the magazine Fiction. Editor Ted Solotaroff then contacted her to ask if she had a novel, at which point she quickly began to write what was to become Property Of, a section of which was published in Mr. Solotaroff’s magazine, American Review.
Since that remarkable beginning, Alice Hoffman has become one of our most distinguished novelists. She has published a total of twenty-three novels, three books of short fiction, and eight books for children and young adults. Her novel, Here on Earth, an Oprah Book Club choice, was a modern reworking of some of the themes of Emily Bronte’s masterpiece Wuthering Heights. Practical Magic was made into a Warner film starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. Her novel, At Risk, which concerns a family dealing with AIDS, can be found on the reading lists of many universities, colleges and secondary schools. Hoffman’s advance from Local Girls, a collection of inter-related fictions about love and loss on Long Island, was donated to help create the Hoffman Breast Center at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA. Blackbird House is a book of stories centering around an old farm on Cape Cod. Hoffman’s recent books include Aquamarine and Indigo, novels for pre-teens, and The New York Times bestsellers The River King, Blue Diary, The Probable Future, and The Ice Queen. Green Angel, a post-apocalyptic fairy tale about loss and love, was published by Scholastic and The Foretelling, a book about an Amazon girl in the Bronze Age, was published by Little Brown. In 2007 Little Brown published the teen novel Incantation, a story about hidden Jews during the Spanish Inquisition, which Publishers Weekly has chosen as one of the best books of the year. Her most recent novels include The Third Angel,The Story Sisters, the teen novel, Green Witch, a sequel to her popular post-apocalyptic fairy tale, Green Angel. The Red Garden, published in 2011, is a collection of linked fictions about a small town in Massachusetts where a garden holds the secrets of many lives.
Hoffman’s work has been published in more than twenty translations and more than one hundred foreign editions. Her novels have received mention as notable books of the year by The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, Library Journal, and People Magazine. She has also worked as a screenwriter and is the author of the original screenplay “Independence Day,” a film starring Kathleen Quinlan and Diane Wiest. Her teen novel Aquamarine was made into a film starring Emma Roberts. Her short fiction and non-fiction have appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe Magazine, Kenyon Review, The Los Angeles Times, Architectural Digest, Harvard Review, Ploughshares and other magazines.
Toni Morrison calls The Dovekeepers “.. a major contribution to twenty-first century literature” for the past five years. The story of the survivors of Masada is considered by many to be Hoffman’s masterpiece. The New York Times bestselling novel is slated for 2015 miniseries, produced by Roma Downey and Mark Burnett, starring Cote de Pablo of NCIS fame.
The Museum of Extraordinary Things was released in 2014 and was an immediate bestseller, The New York Times Book Review noting, “A lavish tale about strange yet sympathetic people, haunted by the past and living in bizarre circumstances… Imaginative…”
Nightbird, a Middle Reader, was released in March of 2015. In August of this year, The Marriage Opposites, Alice’s latest novel, was an immediate New York Times bestseller. “Hoffman is the prolific Boston-based magical realist, whose stories fittingly play to the notion that love—both romantic and platonic—represents a mystical meeting of perfectly paired souls,” said Vogue magazine. Click here to read more reviews for The Marriage of Opposites.
I’ve never read Practical Magic so it’s nice to know you CAN read this as a stand alone. I’m glad you got the story about the aunts that you really wanted. It sounds like a well-done novel!!
-Lauren
Yes, it actually surprised me how well this would work as a standalone. Hoffman did a really nice job with that.
I am so excited for this one!!! I am so glad to see you loved it and can’t wait to get my hand on it. Great review!!
Thanks! I hope you love it too!
I just love Alice Hoffman’s writing. Great review! Would you recommend reading this book before Practical Magic?
Athough I think it would work either way, I personally liked reading them in the original order. Since I loved the aunts so much, I think I would have found it a letdown to move from this book where everything focuses on them to Practical Magic, where they are mostly underused characters, secondary to their nieces.
that is awesome how much you loved this one. I never read her before but the few magical realism books that I read, I did enjoy
She is a wonderful writer. I highly recommend all of her books, but this one is my favorite of hers so far.
After reading your review, I would really like to get a copy of this one. Wonderful review.
Thank you! And I just tried to visit your blog and it appears to be down at the moment 🙁
I read a previous review somewhere that didn’t think much of this book, so I appreciated the different POV. I’ve never read Hoffman, so in my head I’ve always had the movie in my head and as much as I adored the aunts, I thought they were so underused and as a result didn’t think much about them. You’ve made me realise I might want to get to know htem better — great review!
Yes and the aunts are equally underused in the Practical Magic book. I really loved finally getting to know more about them.
This sounds amazing! Why is this the first time I’m hearing about it?! Instant add to my TBR!
Thanks for sharing,
~Brittany @ Brittany’s Book Rambles
Right? There hasn’t been nearly as much hype surrounding this book as I would have expected. I Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
After loving the movie all those years ago, Practical Magic is actually on my TBR and now even MORE so after reading about this one and seeing what it is about. How did I not even know that this one existed?
Really lovely review and thanks for adding to my scary TBR pile! 😉
It has surprised me how low key the promotion for this novel has been, especially since Alice Hoffman is such a legend. Both books are great reads, although I actually think this one was better than Practical Magic, probably just because I adore the aunts so much.