The Luminaries

832 pages

English language

Published Oct. 29, 2013 by Granta, Granta Books.

ISBN:
978-1-84708-431-6
Copied ISBN!
OCLC Number:
851827301

View on OpenLibrary

View on Inventaire

(3 reviews)

It is 1866, and Walter Moody has come to make his fortune upon the West Coast goldfields. On the 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.--

7 editions

Review of 'The Luminaries' on 'Goodreads'

I am mostly proud of myself that a managed the full 830pages (the final 500 over the coarse of 3 days no less!) in time for bookclub, though I fear no other member will have finished it.

it opened as a hint to a ghost story and quickly turned into a game of 'Clue' set in New Zealand during the goldrush. each chapter revealed a meandering and non-chronological telling of one man's perception of a trio of events (a whore's apparent attempt at suicide, a hermit's death, and the disappearance of a young, rich man) and it was with great dismay I found that the final chapter of this first part was the interloper's summation of all the men's stories: in other words, the first 340 pages were redundant in the space of the next 20.

all the chapters were sub-headed in an astrological way (which meant nothing to me) …

avatar for CTD

rated it

avatar for Magneticcrow

rated it

Subjects

  • Gold discoveries
  • Trials
  • Prostitution
  • Fiction
  • Englisch
  • Historischer Roman
  • Gold mines and mining
  • History

Places

  • West Coast (N.Z.)
  • New Zealand
  • West Coast