Illumination Night by Alice Hoffman
Andre and Vonnie are struggling to make ends meet while raising their young son, Simon. Little do they know however, how much their lives will change when their elderly neighbor, Elizabeth decides she can fly and falls from her roof. This event sets in motion the arrival of Jody, Elizabeth's granddaughter, who is banished to the small town by her mother, to take care of grandma. Jody is a teenager with plenty of oats to sow, and quickly sets her eyes on Andre, well just because she thinks she can do whatever she feels like.
As the chaos heats up between Andre and Jody, Vonnie is stricken with severe panic attacks. She can't leave the house and spends hours a day driving her truck up and down the muddy driveway desperately trying to break through her imaginary bubble. Adorable little Simon, is trapped between the comings and goings of all of the adults.
Alice Hoffman does a great job of developing a diverse cast of characters and weaving their actions together. I enjoyed this book for the most part. The one thing that bugged me however, is why the title was Illumination Night. The lighting of lanterns played a very small part in the story. And I didn't feel that any of the characters found "illumination" by the end. Only Jody moved on, every one else simply moved back into a pre existing comfort zone.
Illumination Night is not my favorite Alice Hoffman novel but it's high on the list and worth the time I invested in it.
Andre and Vonnie are struggling to make ends meet while raising their young son, Simon. Little do they know however, how much their lives will change when their elderly neighbor, Elizabeth decides she can fly and falls from her roof. This event sets in motion the arrival of Jody, Elizabeth's granddaughter, who is banished to the small town by her mother, to take care of grandma. Jody is a teenager with plenty of oats to sow, and quickly sets her eyes on Andre, well just because she thinks she can do whatever she feels like.
As the chaos heats up between Andre and Jody, Vonnie is stricken with severe panic attacks. She can't leave the house and spends hours a day driving her truck up and down the muddy driveway desperately trying to break through her imaginary bubble. Adorable little Simon, is trapped between the comings and goings of all of the adults.
Alice Hoffman does a great job of developing a diverse cast of characters and weaving their actions together. I enjoyed this book for the most part. The one thing that bugged me however, is why the title was Illumination Night. The lighting of lanterns played a very small part in the story. And I didn't feel that any of the characters found "illumination" by the end. Only Jody moved on, every one else simply moved back into a pre existing comfort zone.
Illumination Night is not my favorite Alice Hoffman novel but it's high on the list and worth the time I invested in it.
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