I fell in love with the movie “Practical Magic” when it came out in October of 1998. In fact, I would dance around with my then 3-year-old daughter to “Coconut” by Harry Nilsson with total abandonment. I was overjoyed when I heard that the prequel was coming out.  I had loved the book, waited with bated breath for the movie, and now was eager to read the new book by Alice Hoffman.

If you are a fan of “Practical Magic” you will remember that the story of the Owens family and their wonderful history was referenced a bit. However, as you fell in love with the newest generation of Ownes’ you were left with many questions. Why was love such a curse? Why did hurt have to be a part of life? Thanks to Alice Hoffman’s new book “The Rules of Magic” we are transported all the way back to the mid-1600s to the beginning of Owens’ family curse. We learn a great deal about the family tree and just how this curse came about.

Through these pages, we are given the gift of answers to questions that “Practical Magic” had left us with. The lives of the aunts and their brother — yes their brother, Vincent — are laid bare at the reader’s feet. Love, magic tradition, fate, and fear line the pages. Readers are given hints of life’s real-day timelines, allowing the story of the Owens family to come more alive. So sit back and think about how you, the reader, will relish the fact that Hoffman is giving us a rare gift of answers in this book’s pages.

During the lull of your hot summer days, travel the road of the lives of the sisters/aunts and savor the magical storytelling of Hoffman in “The Rules of Magic.” This book is truly a page-turner. You will be able to travel through time, traverse an ocean to distant countries, and you can become engrossed in this world and the history of the Owens family. I suggest you put this on your reading list because the second book is as good as the first.