The Book of Magic

“Perhaps, if they were lucky, one of the aunts would grant them an elixir, stored in the pantry or in the greenhouse, well out of Sally’s sight. Star tulip to decipher dreams, blue beads for protection, garlic, salt, and rosemary to dispel evil, or the most sought-after cure, Love Potion Number Nine, which consisted of anise, rosemary, honey, and cloves all simmered for nine hours and always costing $9.99.”

This is one of the first magical lists that the novel includes. It draws upon historical grimoires, which contain many lists of plants and objects that can help in healing ailments, as well as lists of names of divine and demonic beings. This is a list of green, or healing, magic: a kind of magic that can be learned.

“To destroy a book seemed an unnatural act, especially one written by a woman of great talent and skill.”

Even though The Book of the Raven ruined her daughter’s life, Maria Owens couldn’t bear to destroy it. This thematically develops the power of books. In past generations, women were kept illiterate to limit their power. Few women were writing in the Renaissance, when The Book of the Raven was written, and Maria doesn’t want to erase the author’s history: the story of Amelia Bassano.

“How to exact revenge, how to break another’s heart, how to cause a rival to fall ill, how to escape from a cruel man, how to set fires without touching a candle, how to make figures of wax and cloth and blackthorn and scarlet thread that would cause grave results to an intended enemy, how to bring on a curse, and more important, how to end it.”

This is another example of the book’s use of lists. Here, it lists the kinds of magic found in The Book of the Raven, which is black (or left-handed) magic. This list contrasts with the list of green magic in Quote #2. However, both green and black magic can be learned; they aren’t bloodline powers.

“Oh, beautiful world. Oh, how lucky they were.”

At the end of Jet’s life, she and Franny look back and feel blessed to have lived how they did: as highly literate, independent women and witches. The phrase “beautiful world” appears several times in this section to highlight its importance. The end of one’s life often causes one to more fully appreciate life, perhaps expressing appreciation for beauty that one overlooked.

“It often began with women who were given away to men they didn’t love, who were too poor to make their own decisions, who lived lives they would have never chosen, who couldn’t be published by wrote anyway, women who had been cursed, women who needed to save someone no matter the cost.”

This passage is about the Crooked Path. Kylie discovers The Book of the Raven when she’s desperate, like the women who traveled this path before her. The novel lists reasons that women turn to black magic. Kylie falls into the last category because she wants to use the book to save Gideon.

“The left-handed side of magic and its Crooked Path would never appeal to her. She had avoided magic her whole life long and always proceeded with logic.”

Unlike her daughter, Sally is uninterested in magic because it was forced on her growing up. Being a bloodline witch and living with women who practiced green magic wasn’t her choice. Furthermore, she wants to be normal, and the Crooked Path isn’t a way to fit in. Her resolute rejection of magic at this point contrasts with her acceptance of it later in the novel.

“Part of the skill of research is the ability to guess what might have been, the glimmering of a sixth sense combined with the doggedness of a detective, along with the precious talent of being able to imagine how another’s life might have been lived.”

In another passage that thematically develops the power of books, the novel explores what research, or accessing what books offer, requires: magic, investigation, and empathy. As a librarian, David has these skills, so he can find the link between the Owens and Lockland families.

“To have magic inside him was what he’d always wanted. Instead he settled for second best, being an expert.”

This passage develops the theme of Bloodline Magic Versus Learned Magic. Unlike the Owenses, David isn’t a bloodline witch. He can only study magic; it isn’t an inherent quality for him.

“Be a man who knows how important books are.”

This is what Margaret taught Ian while he was growing up and when he was in prison. While serving his sentence, he gets his life back on track by studying books of magic. Like the Owens family, the Wright family passes down the knowledge they gain from books, thematically highlighting the power of books.

“She reached for Ariel right there in a restaurant on Charles Street and kissed her as if she had never kissed anyone before, because the truth was, she was already drowning.”

This develops the water symbolism that runs throughout the novel. Rather than being a sign of bloodline magic or a part of a premonition about death, water is part of a first kiss. Drowning is a metaphor for love. This scene recalls Gillian’s positive vision of Sally with water, fish, and a bell, which likewise represents love.

“Let the wrong man into your life and you have set out on the path before you know it. A step at a time, until you are turning left.”

This quote from The Book of the Raven is a warning that Kylie ignores. It foreshadows how Tom takes advantage of her bloodline powers to put the Red Death curse on Thornfield as revenge against the village for viewing him as an outcast.

“The water is wide. I cannot get o’er it.”

These are lyrics from a song that both Jet and Antonia sing. It’s a classic folk song that various artists have recorded, including Joan Baez and a group of women at the witchy Lilith Fair festival (the Indigo Girls, Jewel, and Sarah McLachlan) the year before the Practical Magic movie was released. These lyrics, which reappear later in the novel, foreshadow how Franny sacrifices herself in water.

“If a woman doesn’t write her own history, there are very few who will.”

In this quote, Ian highlights one thematic aspect of the power of books: to record history. Women were often denied this power, and men rarely wrote about them. Franny suggests that Ian write about the historical witches in Essex to start to remedy this sexist problem with history, and he’s excited to do so.

“All she had to do was follow the rules of magic.”

This passage describes what Kylie must do to escape Tom. She must follow the advice at the beginning of her family grimoire. In addition, this quote alludes to Hoffman’s previous novel The Rules of Magic, which traces the lives of Jet, Franny, and Vincent when they were young.

“‘Live a little?’ ‘Live a lot.’”

This dialogue is an exchange between Vincent and Franny. It’s an old joke between them and is repeated a few pages later in Franny’s last note to Vincent. She wants him to live life to its fullest and love as much as possible after her death. The repetition highlights the importance of Franny’s message.

“It was a book of practical magic, containing their history, past, present, and future, with plenty of blank pages for the future, Franny made sure of that.”

This passage alludes to the first book in the series, Practical Magic, and indicates all that the Owens family grimoire represents. The novel describes the grimoire as containing green (healing) magic, which has practical applications for addressing many ailments in life. Furthermore, as a complete history, it’s a living document, meant to be added to in the future, with new information or ways to tweak old information to make it more effective.

“List after list of all that mattered, silver coins, pure water, willow, birch, rowan, mirrors, glass, blood, ink, paper, pen.”

The novel draws attention to how grimoires are made up of lists, and the novel itself contains many lists. It describes Franny copying out the contents of the family grimoire before destroying the original art object. One thematic aspect of the power of books is transmitting lists of important things to preserve documents for future generations.

“Words floated everywhere, shimmering on the water. Words made up the world.”

This is the moment when Franny releases the family grimoire into the pond. Its words merge with the natural world, showing how the green magic of the book is natural. This thematically emphasizes the power of books by illustrating how, in this scene, words become literally visible in nature.

“How lucky they had been. Oh, beautiful world. Oh, love that never ended.”

This passage mirrors Quote #5, as Franny’s last moments mirror Jet’s last moments. The end of both their lives is filled with gratitude, an appreciation of beauty, and endless love.

“Harm no one. / Know that what you give to the world will come back to you threefold. / Fall in love whenever you can.”

These are the rules of magic mentioned in Quote #15. Here, Sally reads them in the red journal into which Franny copied the family grimoire. Encountering the familiar words leads Sally to realize what Franny sacrificed and develops the theme of Love as Both Sacrifice and Salvation.

“Make one wish and pay the price. Make one mistake and it can haunt you. All the same, love who you will. Know that language is everything. Never give your words away.”

This is a quote from The Book of the Raven. Sally returns it to the Owens Library so that it will be there for the next woman who needs it. Like Maria, she can’t destroy the book even though it harmed her daughter. Sally, like Amelia (the book’s author), appreciates how words make up the world.

“He knew scores of spells and incantations, in Hebrew and ancient Persian, in runic and Italian, but they’d meant nothing to him. Now he had stepped forward blindly into love, a madman and a fool and proud to be so.”

Here, Ian thematically contrasts the power of books with the power of love. Love isn’t a studied thing, like learned magic is; love is the realm of fools and wildness, but he doesn’t care if he seems foolish. His love for Sally is the only thing stronger than his love for books.

“Sally surprised Gillian by diving into the blue depths. She could do that now that she had lost her powers, and, as it turned out, she was quite a show-off in the water.”

After Sally gives up her bloodline magic, she no longer floats like other witches. Water doesn’t distinguish her as different from other humans anymore, which is what she always wanted. She enjoys life more when she can choose to practice magic, rather than be defined by it. This develops the symbolism of water.