A Musical Film · Now a Novel · 2026

ILLUMINE

A novel by Larry Cortez

"He's losing his vision. She's discovering hers."
Bangkok · Talat Noi · The Chao Phraya at golden hour

✦   Now Published   ·   6 Languages   ✦

🇺🇸 English · 🇹🇭 Thai · 🇩🇪 German · 🇯🇵 Japanese · 🇫🇷 French · 🇪🇸 Spanish

ILLUMINE the novel is available now. Choose your language below and order directly from Amazon.

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Six Languages. One Story.

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ILLUMINE — English Edition 🇺🇸
English Edition · Featured
ILLUMINE
by Larry Cortez

Bangkok, present day. A young Thai woman photographs everything she sees. An American filmmaker has come to disappear. When he speaks before he can stop himself — "Your highlights are blown" — neither of them knows it's the beginning of everything. A luminous story of mentorship, vision, and the courage it takes to truly see — and to let yourself be seen.

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ILLUMINE — Thai Edition 🇹🇭
Thai Edition
ILLUMINE
ฉบับภาษาไทย · Thai Edition

กรุงเทพมหานคร ปัจจุบัน เรื่องราวของไนยนา — สาวไทยผู้เรียนรู้การมองโลกผ่านเลนส์กล้อง

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ILLUMINE — Deutsche Fassung 🇩🇪
Deutsche Fassung
ILLUMINE
Deutsche Fassung · German Edition

Berlin, Kreuzberg. Lena Yilmaz, zweiundzwanzig, sieht die Welt anders — durch Licht, durch Rahmen, durch den drängenden Wunsch, festzuhalten, was verschwindet.

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ILLUMINE — Japanese Edition 🇯🇵
Japanese Edition
ILLUMINE
日本語版 · Japanese Edition

バンコク、タラートノーイ。カメラを持つ若いタイ人女性と、視力を失いかけたアメリカ人映画監督の出会い。光と影の物語。

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ILLUMINE — Édition Française 🇫🇷
Édition Française
ILLUMINE
Édition Française · French Edition

Paris. Une jeune femme apprend à voir — à travers la lumière, à travers le cadre, à travers le regard d'un cinéaste qui perd la vue mais voit encore l'essentiel.

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ILLUMINE — Edición Española 🇪🇸
Edición Española
ILLUMINE
Edición Española · Spain Edition

Madrid, Lavapiés. Clara Ruiz aprende a ver — literalmente, a través de una cámara; metafóricamente, a través de los ojos de un cineasta que está perdiendo la vista.

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The story behind the novel

70,000Words
6Languages
4Acts
83Screenplay Scenes
"The novel is the story of the film — told from the inside, in Naiyana's voice. Read the book. Then the film will give you everything else: the music, the dance, the light."

— Larry Cortez, Director
About the Film →

From Chapter One — Talat Noi, Bangkok, Morning:

She was flat on her stomach in the grass, which she knew looked insane, but the flower was right there and the light was doing something she had never seen light do before and she was not going to stand up like a normal person and miss it.

Tham-mai suay jang tawn yoo khaang nawk, tae paw yoo nai jaw glaai pen dawk-mai dtaai?
Why are you so beautiful out here but when I take your picture you look like a dead flower?

From the bench fifteen feet away, a voice — older, male, American accent, completely unbothered: "Your highlights are blown."

Naiyana looked up.

More Languages Coming

Korean · Arabic · Portuguese · Italian · Mandarin · Hindi · Hawaiian · Tagalog · Samoan · Swahili · and more

✦   THE NOVEL ILLUMINE IS NOW AVAILABLE  ·  BUY NOW IN FRENCH · GERMAN · JAPANESE · SPANISH · THAI  ·  ORDER ON AMAZON  ·  APRIL 13, 2026  ·  ILLUMINEMUSICAL.COM      ✦   THE NOVEL ILLUMINE IS NOW AVAILABLE  ·  BUY NOW IN FRENCH · GERMAN · JAPANESE · SPANISH · THAI  ·  ORDER ON AMAZON  ·  APRIL 13, 2026  ·  ILLUMINEMUSICAL.COM