The Book of Magic

The day of the funeral, the bees go back to their hive. People share how much they loved Jet. Her headstone has her favorite Emily Dickinson quote, and Sally’s daughters read a Dickinson poem about March. Jet died on March 21, which is Franny’s birthday. Rafeal stands apart from the others, cries, and helps shovel dirt over the coffin. Franny tells Gillian that he’s the man who loves Jet, and Sally shushes them. The Reverend cries while conducting the service; Jet visited him every day.

A cousin from Maine reads a letter that Faith wrote about the curse. Sally never told her daughters about it, so the speech shocks Kylie. Antonia says that Kylie shouldn’t believe in the curse, as it’s just superstition from the 1700s. Sally refuses to talk about “family gossip” and tells her cousin to never bring up the curse in front of her again. Kylie and Antonia walk to the house in the rain. Sally helps Franny, who is lost and distraught, and they get a ride home. Franny hides from the guests in her bedroom. The guests include Ben, Gideon, Scott, Joel, and Rafael. Sally checks on Franny, but Franny stays under her covers and doesn’t answer.

Gillian and Ben make another Chocolate Tipsy Cake. Gillian asks Kylie to get her a sweater from Jet’s room. Kylie sees Jet’s book of Dickinson poems and takes it for herself, planning to read one poem a night before bed, like Jet. Rafael notices that Gillian is wearing a sweater he bought for Jet and accepts the dog Daisy as his charge. While Rafael is sitting on Jet’s bed, Franny brings him a cup of courage tea. He curses the curse, and Franny gives him one of Jet’s handkerchiefs to wipe his tears. She says they managed to be together despite the curse.

When Franny and Rafael go downstairs, they find a sparrow in the house. This usually happens on Midsummer’s Eve, so Kylie is confused. The bird lands on Franny’s hand, and she recognizes it as Jet’s spirit. It flies away as Rafael leaves with Daisy, unsure of how to live without Jet.

Vincent lived on the west coast of France, near La Flotte, for many years. Recently, his beloved, William, died because of the curse, and Vincent became depressed. He doesn’t want to be known, but he wrote and performed a famous song called “I Walk at Night” (69), so sometimes he’s recognized. He goes to stay with his friend, Agnes, in Paris and visits his own grave. William is buried beside Vincent’s empty coffin. A dog starts following Vincent. He takes the dog to Agnes’s and names it Dodger. Vincent dreams about Jet giving him a map and saying, “When they find the lock, you have the key” (73).

In the morning, Agnes tells Vincent that Jet died. Vincent tells her about his dream. Vincent has a gift for finding things, but he doesn’t know what he’s supposed to find. Jet’s letter arrives, and Vincent puts the key on a chain around his neck. He writes a letter to Franny and includes Agnes’s address. Then, he goes to an occult store and buys a black mirror. Back at Agnes’s, Vincent looks into the mirror. He has a vision of a book of black magic, also called left-hand magic, and a young woman. Then, he learns that he’ll see Franny soon.

April arrives, but death permeates the yard, leaving ash on the trees and black leaves on the ground. Franny takes the bulb out of the porch light. She’s uninterested in magic because of Jet’s death, doesn’t want to eat, and sees dead animals. She goes on a walk in her traditional red boots, red being the color of magic. At Leech Lake, she remembers swimming with Vincent and Jet when they were teens. They all floated because they were bloodline witches. She also remembers sitting with her dead husband, Haylin, by the lake and talking about the rumors that a sea monster lives there. Then, she recalls her “dead familiar” spirit, a crow named Lewis.

When she gets home, the postman delivers Vincent’s letter. As she reads it, she thinks seeing him is more important than his gift of finding things, which he wrote about.

Kylie starts reading Jet’s book of Dickinson’s poetry about a month after the funeral. She finds Jet’s note for Franny. It says that Franny is the one who is meant to break the curse, and that the spell-breaker can be found in The Book of the Raven. Kylie asks Gideon if he believes in curses, and he says he believes in their love. While the season is unusually dark for other people, Kylie and Gideon don’t notice. They study together and plan a summer vacation in France. They’ve been friends since they were 12.

One day, Kylie sees ash in Gideon’s aura, which is usually orange. She knows this is a sign that something terrible will happen. He’s used to her premonitions and thinks he’s going to fail the Latin test he’s studying for. She has a vision of a paper, a chair, red rain, a bottomless lake, and a man with black hair. Gideon worries that he’ll be expelled. Kylie tells him that it’s neither of these things and cries black tears, as all bloodline witches do. Then, for the first time, she tells Gideon that she loves him. He replies that he has always loved her.

Kylie keeps Gideon near her in Dunster House. A deathwatch beetle is tapping, but Kylie doesn’t know it’s a symbol of death. Kylie sees a black cloud in her dorm room but doesn’t banish it with salt, denying that the curse is real. It starts to rain when she falls asleep, and she dreams of water. Witches always float. Gideon gets up quietly to buy Kylie flowers because she has been sad since Jet died. On his way to the shop, he hears thunder and looks up, and a car hits him.

The call from Gideon’s mother wakes up Kylie. When she learns about the accident, she realizes that the curse is real. Gideon is in the hospital, in a coma. Kylie goes to him; his parents are on their way from New York. She lies in bed with him until a doctor tells her not to. When the doctor leaves, a nurse tells her she can stay, as long as she doesn’t disrupt the wires and tubes.

Franny works in the garden, cleaning up after the thunderstorm. When she hears a deathwatch beetle, she thinks she’s next to die. Kylie arrives, and Franny realizes that the beetle is for Gideon. Kylie demands to know how to stop the curse. Franny doesn’t know how. Kylie gets so upset that she levitates, and Franny has to pull her back to the ground. She explains to Kylie that she and others in their family are witches. Sally didn’t want Kylie to know about magic or the curse.

Kylie has seen the grimoire and asks if it contains something about breaking the curse. Franny says she has read it thousands of times and found nothing. Kylie admits that Jet wrote a letter about using a book to break the curse. Franny asks to see the letter, which is addressed to her, but Kylie runs away, saying she’ll ask Sally about the book the letter mentions.

The Owens Library used to house the Owens School for Girls, the first girls’ school in Massachusetts. The schoolroom is now the circulation desk. There, Sally works on paying the library’s bills. When Kylie enters, some books fly off the shelves, startling Miss Hardwick. Kylie demands that Sally help her break the curse because Gideon is in the hospital. Sally has a vision of his accident. Sally thought Gideon was just a friend, not Kylie’s beloved, and said she planned to tell her daughters about the curse.

Sally hasn’t heard of The Book of the Raven. She offers to accompany Kylie to Gideon’s hospital in Boston and starts to close up the library. Miss Hardwick, who is dressed up for reading Little Women, tells Kylie that she saw Jet put a book for Franny in the rare book room. Kylie says the book is for her. The room contains many occult books, and Hardwick finds the small Book of the Raven for Kylie. She also gives Kylie white archival gloves before helping Sally close.

Inside the book is another note from Jet, which says to start in the city where the book was written: London. Jet adds that “Everything worthwhile is dangerous” (107). Kylie puts the book in her raincoat and leaves with it. Sally returns after Kylie has left. Hardwick tells Sally that The Book of the Raven, which Jet put on the shelf, burns your fingers. Sally knows that it’s a left-handed (black magic) grimoire. After turning down Hardwick’s invitation for drinks at the Black Rabbit, Sally goes home.

Gillian and Antonia come to the house after the latter receives a message from Kylie. Antonia often cared for Kylie while Sally was depressed about the deaths of her husbands. Antonia admits that she dreamed about someone in the family drowning. Gillian says Owens witches can’t drown. Antonia doesn’t mention that the drowned person had red hair. She calls Kylie, saying they can all join her and Gideon at the hospital. Kylie says she must break the curse and blames her family for not telling her about it. Antonia offers to help Kylie, but Kylie refuses to say where she’s going. After Kylie hangs up, Antonia relays what she said and didn’t say.

Sally and Gillian sit on the stairs and hold hands. Franny packs a bag, which includes the family grimoire, and tells the others that she knows who can find Kylie. They’re going to Paris to meet up with Vincent, except for Antonia, who is too far along in her pregnancy to fly. She’s charged with visiting the Reverend once a week.