Reviewed by mary on
The novel is set in Hokitika, a gold-mining town in New Zealand at the height of the West Coast gold rush in 1866. This much is factual but the story and characters are fictional. The novel is written in the style of a historical Victorian novel, it is part thriller, mystery, detective novel, love story, drama and the eclectic mix of characters each have their own individual story to tell. Some of them experience great wealth and good fortune whilst others are exposed to the raw side of life through disgrace, downfall or tragedy. It is definitely a novel you can lose yourself in. As you can tell, it’s a complex novel but incredibly well-written and perhaps one of the cleverest layouts of a novel I’ve ever come across.
The Luminaries is a lot of things, but at the centre of all of them it is a murder mystery. In 1866 an old hermit has been found dead in his home and a wealthy young man has gone missing. In Part 1, Walter Moody arrives in the gold mining town of Hokitika in New Zealand ready to make his fortune. What he finds instead is a meeting of twelve men who each have overlapping connections to the mystery.
The murder mystery is the catalyst for all subplots, which have something to say about friendship, love, betrayal and the culture of several different nationalities. Go read it for yourself.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 24 October, 2014: Finished reading
- 24 October, 2014: Reviewed