- First published
- 2013
- Length
- ≈ 1773 pages
- Reading time
- 45–60 hours
- ISBN
- 1480592587
Reading time assumes 30–40 pages per hour; edition and reading pace affect this estimate. Edition source
What is this book about?
Walter Moody arrives in Hokitika on New Zealand’s South Island in 1866, hoping to find his fortune in the goldfields. Instead, an encounter with twelve local men draws him into a mystery involving unresolved crimes. Eleanor Catton gives this historical novel an astrological structure: the twelve men correspond to zodiac signs, while other characters correspond to planets.
The Luminaries won the 2013 Booker Prize. Alongside its mystery, its distinctive organisation offers readers a way to consider how a novel’s structure shapes the telling of its story.
Source: The Luminaries
Book-club discussion
Suggested questions based on the book’s premise and form.
- How does the gold-rush setting influence the characters’ ambitions?
- What does the astrological structure contribute to the way the mystery is told?
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