In this sparkling prequel we meet sisters Frances and Jet and Vincent, their brother. From the beginning their mother Susanna knew they were unique: Franny with her skin as pale as milk and blood red hair, who could commune with birds; Jet as shy as she is beautiful, who knows what others are thinking, and Vincent so charismatic that he was built for trouble. Susanna needed to set some rules of magic: no walking in the moonlight, no red shoes, no wearing black, no cats, no crows, no candles and certainly, absolutely, no books about magic…

But the Owens siblings are desperate to uncover who they really are. Each heads down a life-altering course, filled with secrets and truths, devastation and joy, and magic and love. Despite the warning handed down through the family for centuries – Know that for our family, love is a curse – they will all strive to break the rules and find true love.

Praise for Alice Hoffman:
‘Like her contemporaries, Carol Shields and Alice Munro, Hoffman has an acute eye for detail… she writes with heartbreaking clarity’ The Times

‘Alice Hoffman is simply brilliant’Daily Mail

'Many novels are called "stunning", but this one truly is: part love story, part mystery , part history, and all beautiful’ Jodi Picoult on The Museum of Extraordinary Things