In the novel The Illusion of Being Here, a letter from Catherine the Great sends Paul and Luke on a quest through Charleston, South Carolina. Paul, a history professor at the College of Charleston, hopes the letter will give him credibility to gain job security. His cousin Luke, a diplomat, wants to find the letter because of his deep interest in Russia, where he lived until a tragedy drove him out. As the search through Charleston continues, Luke recalls his life in Japan, Germany, Beijing, and meeting with a Gypsy witch in Moscow, who has sensory connections to know the future. Each of those incidents provides Luke with a clue to what he is trying to find in his life, while Paul is pushed to consider where his real passions are leading him.