Born in Poland to Holocaust survivors, Eva Hoffman has previously explored atrocities as a feature of human life and the importance of art as a means of memorialising and, in some measure, counteracting the horror of our history. Illuminations is a continuation of that exploration. Gifted New York pianist Isabel Merton leaves the security and affection of her husband, Peter, in search of a life that corresponds more closely to the vertiginous heights of her art. It leads her to Anzor, a mysterious Chechen official "incandescent with conviction", and their movement through a succession of European cities on her recital tour also becomes an inward journey; her quest for freedom leading to psycho-spiritual crisis. There's no mistaking the seriousness of the ideas that drive this intellectually sophisticated novel, and just as Isabel must re-examine the aesthetic criteria that have governed her life, so readers may have to reconsider their priorities in the light of a novel that raises questions central to the survival of compassionate values in a threatening world.