Not one of Hoffman's best works. I'm usually a huge fan. The lackluster plot and characters left me feeling blah. The only highlight to me was the references to spots on Martha's Vineyard, which I've been to a few times.

Kävin maailmassa, joka oli olemassa vain näillä sivuilla. Niin kuin kaninkolossa tai Narniassa, paitsi ettei Lyhtyjen yö ollut satua vaan surullisten tarinoiden taikapallo.

Lyhtyjen yö tapahtuu Martha's Vineyardilla ja se on olennaista. Lyhtyjen yön Vineyard ei ole mikään itärannikon kesä-Hanko vaan elämää vähän etäämmältä katsovien turvasatama. Oman elämän protesti. Tai siksi aiottu, mutta toisin kävi.

Luin Lyhtyjen yön, koska pidin Aavikon kyyhkysistä niin paljon. Pidin Lyhtyjen yöstä vielä enemmän.

Lyhtyjen yö sisälsi paljon tuttuja hienon fiktion rakennusaineita. Vaihtuvat ja katoavat kertojat, heidän erilliset maailmansa yhteisen maailman sisällä, vahvojen heikkeneminen ja heikkojen vahvistuminen. Koska Lyhtyjen yö on maagista realismia romanttisella tvistillä, tarina huijasi minut odottamaan sovinnollista loppua.

Nyt kun olen lopettanut kirjan, tuntuu kuin olisin kokenut haikean kotiinpaluun tunteelliselta matkalta. Ja pääsisin haikeudesta eroon vain suunnittelemalla seuraavaa. Ja niin varmasti teenkin seurassasi Alice Hoffman!

There’s quite a lot going on on the novel many voices and narratives. I can’t think of a central theme, it seems like the author couldn’t decide what to focus on so she wrote everything in. Also, totally weird and unlikely: a giant breaks into a house and the teenager brings him upstairs to her bedroom and has sex with him... AND she’s in love with him. Really??
Still, I appreciate the writing style, if not the story.

Add-on: I always appreciate reading other’s reviews, after I have finished my book. Maria’s review (Aug. 2015) have me a new, more positive perspective on this book. While I have a greater appreciation for it, I’ll stand by my first impression rating.

Vonny and Andrew live in Martha’s Vineyard with their five-year-old slow-growing son, Simon. Their next-door neighbor, Elizabeth Renny, falls from a window and must get assistance, which arrives in the form of her rebellious teenage granddaughter, Jody. Eddie, called “the Giant,” lives alone with his chickens, avoiding social contact due to his extreme height. This is the story of people living in this small community. Each of the main characters is dealing with an issue.

I liked parts of this book quite a bit, especially the first half. The description of “illumination night,” an annual event, is beautiful. I enjoyed the relationship between Jody and her grandmother, a much-needed relief from her overbearing parents. The last half of the book is extremely sad. The characters start with problems and end with problems, though perhaps different ones. There is little humor or joy to be found. Surely someone in this town is happy? The storylines are well developed until they just….end. Maybe I missed something, but it seems it seems unfinished to me.

“Living with Jody is like living with an interesting time bomb.”

“Every move she makes spells out her desire for danger.”

I am continuing to read Hoffman’s work in the order it was published to see where her voice and storytelling become the one I love in her more recent books, like Practical Magic.

Illumination Night is Hoffman’s 6th novel, published in 1987, when she was 34 years old. And I’m not sure if the reason that it feels like the pivotal shift in her characters towards more relatable and proactive is because she was just a year younger than I am now, when she wrote this story, or if the change is actually that stark. It is still a far cry from her later work, but I can care about these characters, their bad decisions and propensity to tolerate misery are still frustrating to read, but there feels like there is hope they might escape it. These characters are capable of figuring out what they want, going after it, and overcoming wanting things that are bad for them. The writing continues to be lyrical and to weave stories through generations of family. For me, this book was a huge step in enjoyable direction.

I've just started reading Alice Hoffman and am quickly becoming a big fan. I'd say her writing is lyrical, which is not a term I've used in a book review before. I definitely felt lulled into the story by the beautifully emotive writing though, so lyrical it is.

The characters are flawed, misguided, and inept at expressing themselves, yet they are woven together in Hoffman's stories in the most enchanting way. I feel like even though Illumination Night is a relatively light read, it does make you think and definitely leaves you wondering how you'd like to see the storylines conclude. No neatly wrapped up stories here!

3.5

For a book called Illumination Night , there sure is a shadow over this story. The majority of the time, the characters are all in significant inner turmoil. They have their brief glimpses of joy, but then the perspective shifts back to another character in angst. I also find the dolefulness of the characters overly-contrived for the sake of soap-opera-esque melodrama. It evoked for me the mental eye rolling previously reserved for the Twilight series. The book plays out somewhat like a fairytale for adults in its telling, though without the magic. Also, it doesn't seem like a cohesive story so much as a snapshot of a year or so of the characters' lives and personalities.

The majority of my time spent listening to audio books is while I'm exercising. During this one, I found myself checking how much time I had left in the workouts much more frequently than usual, and counting down the tracks until the book itself was over. When it finally did end, far too much was left unresolved or unanswered.

I love authors who are able to capture and explore the flaws of humans. Great writing and interesting character development. A very sad book in many ways, but truthful and hopeful.

An early work by one of the great American women authors. Her style was just developing in this story about love, pain, family, growing up, growing, growing old, being little, being big.
As a Hoffman book I would only rate it at three stars. There are glimpses of the amazing talent she has for spinning ordinary words into something you would swear could nourish you like food. But it isn't there yet.
However, taken by itself I rate it at four stars. I recommend "Practical Magic" first of you are just getting into Alice Hoffman, so you can see her at her best. Then go back to her earlier ones.

After reading and loving Alice Hoffman's new novel, "The Rules of Magic" I decided to go to my bookshelf filled with her past novels and re-read some of them. I am pleased to say that I loved Illumination Night as much the second time as the first time I read it years ago!
Her characters - Vonny, Simon, Andre, Jody, Elizabeth, Eddie the Giant and others - are so real and relatable that I feel like I am a voyeour at the vineyard watching their lives interwine and effect one another in ways that amaze and profoundly impact them and me.
I am rushing to my bookshelf of Alice Hoffman's books to grab another book to savor on this rainy afternoon.

Another good read. Though it was left open ended.