Practical Magic (book)

"Practical Magic" is a novel by Alice Hoffman, which was made into a film of the same name. The novel was published by Vintage Books in 1996.

Plot Summary

"Practical Magic" is a complex story focusing on Sally and Gillian Owens. After their parents died in a fire when they were little girls, they were sent to live with their two eccentric aunts, Frances and Jet, in a dramatic old house on Magnolia Street, which was built centuries before by their ancestor, Maria Owens, an apparent witch.

The girls live a life without rules, drinking soda for breakfast and never having to brush their teeth. But Gillian feels trapped, and when she's old enough, runs away with a boy who becomes her first husband out of many. Sally, meanwhile, only wants true love but is afraid that she'll end up like her mother and father - too in love to save themselves from the fire that killed them. But one day Sally meets Michael, the man of her dreams, whom she marries and has two children with, Kylie and Antonia.

Though tragedy strikes and when Michael dies, Sally blames herself, the aunts and the centuries-old curse that surrounded the women of her family. She takes the girls away, despite their protests, in the hopes of giving them a normal life with rules and healthy dinners and clean teeth.

But Gillian, whom trouble seems to follow, comes to visit Sally's new house on a balmy summer night with a surprise in her car, trouble up her sleeve and a detective following not far behind, and asks Sally for help to clean up the mess she made.

The story is back-to-back magic and mystery, a fairy tale for grown-ups, with a dramatic ending that sees the magic that surrounds the family come to lend a hand.