The day of her father's funeral, a famous author, Emerson, takes his typewriter. She's been forbidden to touch it. In a moment of grief, she types a wish. She's stunned to discover her wish came true, not in the way she expected, and with consequences she never considered. Emerson wonders if it could be a coincidence. She types out another wish. Again, it comes true in a mysterious way. Could this typewriter be magical?
Her family life wasn't perfect. Her father lost himself in his work and his fame. He didn't encourage his only child to follow in his footsteps. He didn't think her writing was enough. Emerson trusted him enough to put her own writing aside and ghostwrite.
Emerson's life is at a crossroads. She's at odds with her daughter and her alcoholic mother. The more she learns about her father and the typewriter, the more she wonders how he changed all of their lives with his wishes. Will she keep wishing for herself and her family? Does the need to be in control outweigh the consequences of the typewriter?
THE UNWRITTEN RULES OF MAGIC is a novel about family drama, dealing with grief, and finding your own path. There's failure and betrayal, but there's also forgiveness, tender moments, and growth. The dynamics of a single mother and her struggling relationships with her mother and her teenage daughter draw parallels to Gilmore Girls. This dazzling debut makes Harper Ross an author to watch.
For fans of The Midnight Library and In Five Years, The Unwritten Rules of Magic is a spellbinding novel that blends magic and memory in an unforgettable journey through love, grief, and the hidden cost of perfection across three generations of women.
Emerson Clarke can’t remember a time when she felt in control. Her father—a celebrated author—was a chaotic force until he got Alzheimer’s. Her mother turned to gin. And recently, her teen daughter has shut her out without explanation. If only she could arrange reality the same way she controls the stories she ghostwrites, life could be perfect.
Or so she thinks.
After her father’s funeral, Emerson steals his vintage typewriter—the one he’d forbidden anyone to touch—and tests its keys by typing out a frivolous wish. When it comes true the very next day, she tries another. Then, those words also spring to life. Suddenly, she becomes obsessed with using the typewriter to rewrite happiness for herself and her daughter.
But the more she shapes her real-life, the more she uncovers disturbing truths about her family’s history and the unexpected cost of every story-come-true. She should destroy the typewriter, yet when her daughter’s secret finally emerges, Emerson is torn between paying the price for bending fate and embracing the uncertainty of an unscripted life.
© 2003-2026