This study guide was created using the following version of this book: Hoffman, Alice. The Book of Magic. Simon & Schuster. 2021.

The Book of Magic tells the story of three generations of the Owens women reconciling a curse placed on the family three hundred years earlier by Maria Owens. . The curse is a fatal blow to the person with whom any member of the Owens family falls in love. Jet and Franny are the older aunts who raised their nieces Sally and Gillian after their parents passed away. Sally is twice widowed with two grown daughters, Kylie and Antonia. Gillian has never married.

When Kylie’s boyfriend Gideon is hit by a car, Kylie seeks to find a way to break the family curse to save Gideon’s life. After Jet hears the sound of the deathwatch beetle, Jet realizes she only has six days to live. Jet goes in search of a way to end the Owens’ family curse. Jet discovers an old book with a spell to reverse the curse. She seals the final two pages of the book together and leaves the book for Franny to find it after Jet’s death.

Kylie discovers the book before Franny and takes off on a journey to London to find someone who can help her break the curse. Franny, Sally, and Gillian go after Kylie, leaving Antonia, who is nine months pregnant, behind. Sally meets Ian, a heavily-tattooed man who studies the history of magic, by saving Ian’s life after he has been poisoned by a mysterious, red substance.

Kylie meets Tom, a distant relative, who is experienced in left-hand magic. As Kylie spends more time with Tom, her hair turns a dark black, and everything begins to turn dark around her. Kylie’s family tries to find her, but Kylie resists. Kylie will do anything to reverse the curse and save Gideon. However, Tom is only interested in placing a curse on the townspeople he hates. He needs Kylie’s natural gift of witchcraft to do so.

Sally and Ian grow closer as they work to find Kylie. When Tom kidnaps Kylie to perform his ritual, Sally rushes to help rescue her daughter. After Tom is able to begin the curse on the town, a red rain falls over the town and begins to make everyone ill. Sally confronts Tom with a spell that will lead to Tom’s downfall, but it will also deplete Sally’s magical abilities. Sally is willing to make the sacrifice, and she defeats Tom.

With the curse on the town reversed, Franny turns to breaking the Owens’ family curse. To break the curse, a life must be given. The Owens’ family grimoire (a book of magic) must also be destroyed. Franny records all of the spells from the grimoire into a red notebook before taking the grimoire to a pond and drowning herself to break the curse.

Sally and Gillian mourn the loss of their beloved aunt. With the curse broken, Gideon survives and reunites with Kylie. Antonia gives birth to a healthy baby boy. Sally and Ian fall in love and are married.