Opium, deceit, murder, gold…
…all the hallmarks of a Victorian novel, with a huge cast of various interlinked characters from all parts of society, but set against the backdrop of New Zealand‘s wild west coast. But The Luminaries is so much more than a simple whodunnit story.
When Walter Moody arrives in the small gold-mining town of Hokitika, he stumbles across a meeting of twelve men, discussing a series of crimes that seem to be linked. A local magnate has gone missing, a prostitute has been found unconscious and drugged on the side of the road, a politician has been blackmailed and a hermit has been found murdered in his own home.
Adding to the sense of mystery, astrological themes underpin the story, with each character being associated with a particular star sign or planet. Chapter headings are styled as Saturn in Virgo or Sun in Leo depending on which characters feature in each chapter.
The pace of storytelling is designed to mimic the waning of the moon: each of the seven parts of the book is half the length of the previous part. This means that the story starts off slow (and the book can be difficult to get into at first) but quickens as the pace of the action speeds up. As you move through the book, the interwoven fates of the characters slowly unfurl, leaving you desperate to find out what happens (or happened) next.
The further you wade into this intricately crafted story, the more you will want. The Luminaries is a mesmerising, richly patterned feat of storytelling, and will have you hooked to the very last page.
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