The pre-prequel to “Practical Magic”, this book takes us to the 1600s and the life of Maria Owens. Abandoned at birth, she is found and raised by the local witch in rural England. She proves to have great talent for magic, as well as being taught to read and write. When her adoptive mother is killed by a witch hunter, Maria finds her birth mother- also a witch. When her father makes a surprise reappearance, the three of them flee the area. They tell Maria she cannot stay with them, and she finds herself on the way to the New World, although not in the way that she thinks is happening. Maria ends up having a lot of adventures on her way to Salem, and they don’t end when she finds her way there. She ends up pronouncing a curse, that will keep any Owens from finding love for long- and also learns that love is, in the end, all that really matters.
While not quite as good as “Practical Magic” (nothing is), it’s a book I liked much better than I liked the middle book, “Rules of Magic”. It is a stay-up-all-night-reading-it book. Five stars.
