Practical Magic
SUBURBIA is where Alice Hoffman goes for a taste of dark magic. There's something about those winding streets lined with identical houses that sets her to imagining witches, magicians, black cats, wicked crows, helpful toads, spells, hexes, presentiments. The people in her latest novel, "Practical Magic," live in a world of incantations and Formica, magic potions and linoleum. They don't have time for lives of quiet desperation -- they're too busy subduing ghosts and trying to figure out how much nightshade it takes to kill a grown man.
Practical Magic
But the aunts' specialty is something trickier than ill-mannered cats; these little old ladies in black are actually the witch doctors of love. At twilight, the women of the town steal up to their kitchen door, seeking potions with which to repair troubled romances. Sometimes the charms work, but sometimes a woman wants too much from love and the magic enslaves her. The youngsters eavesdrop from behind a door. "On evenings when the orange moon was rising in the sky, and some woman was crying in their kitchen," Ms. Hoffman writes, "Sally and Gillian would lock pinkies and vow never to be ruled by their passions." Of course, this is a vow designed to be broken. In Ms. Hoffman's fiction, passion is what gets you in trouble -- but it is also what gives life its sweetness, and it can never be denied.
In her teens, Gillian becomes a great beauty: "Boys looked at her and got so dizzy they had to be rushed to the emergency room for a hit of oxygen or a pint of new blood." She's a bit too popular for her own good. Sally turns out to have quieter attractions; she's serious and practical, somewhat grim. It's mainly through her eyes that the sisters' adult lives unfold in four novella-length sections entitled "Superstition," "Premonitions," "Clairvoyance" and "Levitation."
There's nothing else to do but plant the body in the garden, under the lilacs -- and that's when the trouble begins. After years apart, the sisters are once again in complicity. Ghosts begin walking at night. Garden plants behave strangely. The drug dealer's soul will not rest. The sisters will have to summon up every piece of magic they know.
The tale of the Owenses' struggle is charmingly told, and a good deal of fun. Dark comedy and a light touch carry the story along to a truly Gothic climax, complete with heaving skies and witchery on the lawn. Ms. Hoffman's trademark narrative voice is upbeat, breathless and rather bouncy. She creates vivid characters, she keeps things moving along, and she's not above using sleight of hand and prestidigitation to achieve her considerable effects. She plays tricks with the reader's expectations by suddenly shifting tenses or passing the point of view around the room like a football. At one brief but memorable juncture, we see things through the eyes of a magician's rabbit.
The witches in this novel are not like Anne Rice witches, exactly, nor are they the brujas you meet in "Like Water for Chocolate" or the tales of the Latin American magic realists, despite the echoes you may hear. Alice Hoffman writes about women who have had their witchiness thrust upon them. They have children they love, dinner to get on the table, boyfriends who are bums or magicians or both. When they have problems, they try to solve them with a house in the burbs, a nice yard, regular living. But somehow these time-honored American solutions never seem to work. That's when you need to send for those little old ladies in black.
From the author of Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick The Rules of Magic comes a transfixing glimpse into a small American town where a mysterious, magical garden holds the truth behind three
Writing at the height of her powers, Alice Hoffman conjures three generations of a family haunted by love. Cool, practical, and deliberate, John is dreamy Arlyn's polar opposite. Yet the two are
"Practical Magic" is too scary for children and too childish for adults. Who was it made for? On the one hand, you have cute witches making jokes about magic potions and herbal shampoos, and on the other hand, you have a kidnapping by an abusive boyfriend who dies of an overdose--but not for long. Moldy evil spirits rise up out of other people's bodies, and teaspoons stir on their own.
Sally and Gillian are sisters torn between their witchy heritage and their desire to live normal lives. In Alice Hoffman's novel Practical Magic and the film of the same name, the girls grow up in a magical house with two aunts who are practicing witches. Through tragedy, family drama, spells, and curses, the Owens sisters finally find balance.
Matt Iverson, now an insurance agent in Oak Harbor, pitched in as an extra and did some driving. In a 2016 interview he described how a few locals, hired as stand-ins for the stars, revolted at the low pay and quit their gigs, and recalled the final scene of the movie, where the extras were invited to don their own costumes to celebrate Halloween and witness some practical magic at the Owens House.
As for Hollywood's feelings about the experience, we can only resort to the commentary on the DVD. In the words of Denise De Novi, the movie's producer, "This movie is about magic, and that place was magical," while Sandra Bullock describes seeing orcas and bald eagles and recalls the day a seal came to watch the filming on San Juan Island: "Those islands are some of the most blessed" ("Practical Magic Commentary").
Claire Whitcomb, "Casting a Decorative Spell," Victoria, October 1998, pp. 80-88; Jessie Stensland, "Packin' Up: Movie Crews Get Ready to Restore Coupeville," Whidbey News-Times, April 15, 1998, pp. A-1-A-2; Jessie Stensland, "Town Takes Stock in Wake of Movie," Ibid., April 15, 1998, p. A-2; Mike Page-English, "A Practically New Face: Coupeville Makes Hollywood's Version of Massachusetts Look Good," Ibid., April 8, 1998, pp. A-1, A-3; Georgie Smith, "Coupeville Star-struck," The Herald, April 12, 1998, p. 2-D; Mary Kay Doody, "Making Magic," Coupeville Examiner, March 20, 1998, p. 1; Mary Kay Doody, "Antique Mall Will Go With New Look," Ibid., March 20, 1998, p. 1; David Svien, "Magic Fever," Ibid., April 3, 1998, pp. 1, 3; "That's All Folks" (editorial), Journal of the San Juan Islands, May 6, 1998, p. 3-A; "Warner Bros. Film Crews Headed Downtown," Ibid., April 15, 1998, p. 3-A; Jeff Rosen, "Schmoozing with the Stars: All in a Day's Work," Ibid., April 29, 1998, p. 9-A; Jeff Rosen, "Council Offers Warner Bros. Parking Bargain," Ibid., April 22, 1998, p. 1-A; "Tryouts Saturday for 'Practical Magic' Extras," Ibid., April 1, 1998, p. 3-A; Julia Sweeten, "Practical Magic: A Victorian House Fit for a Witch," Hooked on Houses website accessed April 1, 2016 ( -magic-a-victorian-house-fit-for-a-witch/); Liz Matthews, Location Manager, Warner Hollywood Studios, to Coupeville merchants and residents, March 20, 1998, "Practical Magic" file, clippings collection, Island County Historical Society, Coupeville, Washington; Jessie Stensland, "Coupeville Is Star-struck," and Mike Page-English, "Practical Magic Welcome Falls Short of Unanimous with Merchants," undated clippings from Whidbey News-Times, "Practical Magic" file, clippings collection, Island County Historical Society; Rebecca Wheeler, Facebook message to Eleanor Boba, April 24, 2016, copy in possession of Eleanor Boba, Seattle, Washington; Venessa Matros, Facebook message to Eleanor Boba, April 24, 2016, copy in possession of Eleanor Boba; Linnane Armstrong, Facebook message to Eleanor Boba, April 24, 2016, copy in possession of Eleanor Boba; Eleanor Boba telephone interview with Matt Iverson, May 10, 2016, notes in possession of Eleanor Boba; "Practical Magic Commentary," in Practical Magic (DVD, 2009).
But both find that they cannot elude their magic-filled past. And when trouble strikes - in the form of a menacing backyard ghost - the sisters must not only reunite three generations of Owens women but embrace their magic as a gift - and their key to a future of love and passion.
Aunt Frances (V.O): But no, I didn't think it was either of those reasons. They feared her because she had a gift a power that has been passed on to you children. She had the gift of magic. And it was this very gift that saved her life. She was vanished to this very island. With her unborn child growing inside her belly. She waited for her lover to rescue her. But he never came. No one came. In a moment of despair, she cat a spell upon herself that she would never again feel the agony of love. But as her bitterness grew the spell turned into a curse. A curse on any man who dared love an Owens woman.
We all fell head over heels for the Owens family from the very moment Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest's witchy aunts told Sally and Gillian, "In this house, we have chocolate cake for breakfast." The familial chemistry! The sorcery! The midnight margaritas! There's so much to love about this cult classic. So, of course we want to catch up with the gals and see what life has brought them since their (seemingly) last time playing with magic.
Sadly, we're calling BS on this rumor. None of the original cast has addressed the rumors. And that magical-looking announcement "poster" isn't from an actual film studio. While revealing a Practical Magic sequel is in the works would be truly remarkable, it's currently impossible to confirm.
For those who don't remember (or were too young to know), the 1998 film is based on a book. Written by Alice Hoffman, Practical Magic is the first in a quartet of books that follows the oh-so-magical Owens family. The next three books are The Rules of Magic, Magic Lessons, and The Book of Magic. The synopsis written to accompany the seemingly fake Practical Magic 2 movie poster follows the plot of The Book of Magic almost perfectly. Stating, "When Sally's Grand Daughter turns 16, all hell breaks loose when an ancient family curse finally descends. Tracking down the source to a long-forgotten Owens family coven, the six Owens women must travel across the country if they have any hope of saving the future of their family." 041b061a72
