The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman 4*

 

The completion of the Practical Magic story of the Owens family and their curse in matters of love makes the swing around to complete the circle.  The primary settings are the house on Magnolia Street where the Owens family has lived for generations, with trips across the ocean and back to the place of the original pond where the curse began in England.  As with any good series, this one tied up loose ends left open in the prior books and created a landscape all its own.  Fresh characters join the beloved one, and we feel immediately at home in the libraries and homes of the characters.

 

Hoffman’s writing has been called lush, and for this reader, some places where a bit too lush, especially once the action moved to England. But the story and characters were worth wading through a bit of brush and marsh, the ending is surprisingly inevitable.  I was charmed by the explanations of love for this family… “you stayed when you wanted to run away. You held on when you knew you had no choice but to let go.”  I wish I had the whole series to read again.