Illumination Night by Alice Hoffman

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.

The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman

The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman

I've been searching for a book club to join for a long time.  I live in a retirement community so you wouldn't think a finding a book club would be an issue, but they meet at 10 am.  Ever since I went back to work, a morning meeting is out of the question.  Finally, I thought to call the local library and guess what!  They have an evening book club! 

The Dovekeepers was the book selection for the month.  I've never read Alice Hoffman before and with close to 600 pages, I feared I may not make it to the end.  Boy, was I wrong. The Dovekeepers tells the story of nine hundred Jews living on Masada in the desert, under siege by the Romans.  We see life in the mountain fortress through the eyes of four women all assigned to work in the dovecote.  Each arrives at Masada from a different path. Each has a story, and a secret which eventually binds them all together. Their fight for survival often conflicts with a deep faith that governs their way of life. 

Alice Hoffman has given us a poignant, beautiful and gripping novel.  It has been meticulously researched and written.  I learned so much about a piece of history that I knew little about and it touched me deeply.  The language used to tell these women's stories is magical.  How they are woven together is perfection.  The Dovekeepers is not to be missed. 

I received a warm welcome as the newcomer in a well established book club.  The discussion was lively and made me think about events in the story in a different light, one that I wouldn't have thought of on my own.  I read a wonderful book, one that I never would have chosen myself.  And I made some new friends who share my love of books. 

Whether you belong to a book club or not, please put The Dovekeepers on your list of must reads. A whole new world may be opened up that you never expected. I know it did for me in more ways than one.