Well, this is tricky. I really enjoyed the book. I enjoyed it the first time I read it when it was called "Practical Magic" by Alice Hoffman. Was it plagiarism? I'm not sure - that's for Hoffman's lawyers to decide, but if you enjoyed the following things about Hoffman's book, then you'll enjoy this one:
- a lovely garden where the plants grow in an atmosphere of magical realism, out of time and season.
- two sisters who seem polar opposites, who suffered the loss of their mother at a young age and are separated for years after a difficult childhood together.
- a small town where the quirky, magical gifts of the sisters' family are both scorned and sought out - making it difficult for anyone from the family to live a normal life.
- the younger sister comes back to the family home after leaving a desperate, violent relationship - which follows her there for a climatic ending.
- a daughter of one of the sisters with her own gifts and a maturity seeming beyond her years - wiser than her mother or aunt and who can't understand why they don't "see" what she sees.
- The older sister who is reserved and rigid from her life experiences, finds love despite her fighting against it.