A “wondrous” novel of fear, desire, loss, and discovery on Martha’s Vineyard by the New York Times–bestselling author of Practical Magic and Seventh Heaven (Chicago Tribune). Elizabeth Renny has only made two decisions of consequence in her seventy-plus years. While the first, marrying her husband, had adequate results, the second—deciding she could fly from her bedroom window—is less successful. … fly from her bedroom window—is less successful. But her flight sets in motion a series of events that will forever change the lives of six residents of Martha’s Vineyard: a young boy who refuses to grow, a wife stifled by her irrational anxiety, a husband tempted by the unknown, a girl flirting with disaster, a gentle giant tortured by his size, and an old woman with nothing to lose.
Praised as “an intelligent novel” by the New York Times and “achingly vivid” by Newsday, Illumination Night is a sparkling and heartbreaking narrative that explores marriage, friendship, youth, yearning, disillusionment, and desire, a book as bright and memorable as the festival of lanterns for which it is named.
more
Interesting story of intertwined lives. The author often leaves us hanging, much the way life does, creating our own ending for the people we meet in her stories.
This story was beautiful. It kept travelling to places I never would have expected, with thin connections, as strong and seemingly ethereal as a spider’s web. A story of life, of hope, of delicate expectations for surviving life in this world.
Alice Hoffman is my go-to author when I want a good book to live in. She never disappoints. Each of the characters in Illumination Night is an interesting, fully-developed person that you care about, even her antagonists. It’s as though each of them is her favorite. A novel about the year-round residents of Martha’s Vineyard, it’s a good read …
I Love Alice Hoffman! She never disappoints.
Very well written. Wonderful character development. I could not put it down.
I love Alice Hoffman and the magical perspective that she brings to her stories. I want to know what happens next, yet there’s enough to imagine living a sequel. The characters voices are very real, very tense, very hopeful. I wish everything would be happily-ever-after but I’m happier with the way her books end than it seems they have a right …
Hoffman is one of my favorite authors, but this wasn’t one of her best.
Great book! I especially love the author’s descriptions and attention to detail on top of her amazing storytelling and character creation. Highly recommend.
Quirky story. Kept me engaged throughout. Highly recommend it especially if you are an Alice Hoffman fan.
Two thumbs up!!
This was a confusing read. I kept waiting for some major shift to show why this story was being told. It is a slice of the lives but not in depth…
Excellent
Pretty typical of slice Hoffman, whom I love…wonderful characters that onecares a out, tight story line with some suspense, great story
Alice Hoffman is an amazing story teller. I always get pulled in by the first chapter.
didn’t do anything for me. wouldn’t recommend it.
This novel begins with characters I felt I knew in a situation that was ordinary but at the same time fraught with dramatic tension. The skill it takes to pull that off is considerable and worth the reader’s careful attention to moods and glances and murmuring. So it felt like the author was breaking trust with us when she introduces–late in the …
Great book
Alice Hoffman writes in a style I think of as Magical Realism. It’s been many years since I read this book, so I can’t recall a lot of details. But she has an engaging style of writing, and her characters are complex and memorable.
One of Irving’s best!
Alice Hoffman never fails to intrigue and entertain.