The luminaries (2013)
[sound recording] :, 1773 pages
English language
Published Oct. 29, 2013
It is 1866, and Walter Moody has come to make his fortune upon the New Zealand goldfields. On the stormy night of his arrival, he stumbles across a tense gathering of twelve local men, who have met in secret to discuss a series of unsolved crimes. Moody is soon drawn into the mystery: a network of fates and fortunes that is as complex and exquisitely patterned as the night sky.
Set in gold rush era New Zealand, it reminded me more than a little of the series Deadwood despite being on the other side of the world. It's brilliantly written and is very deliberate and interesting in form - structured according to astrology and the chapters flipping upside down as the book progresses. The mystery was original and unpredictable, but kinda low key.
Stunning prose, in service of a so-so mystery. Catton can invest her characters with so much definition and life with just a few turns of phrase, which kept me going despite the central plot never quite getting out of third gear.
