Booker Prize Winner
The Luminaries
by Eleanor Catton
Summary
In the gold-rush town of Hokitika in 1866, twelve men gather in a hotel smoking room to puzzle over a death, a missing prospector, and a fortune in gold, drawing a newcomer into their elaborate web. Catton organises the novel around astrological charts, with each chapter and character mirroring planetary configurations as the structure itself contracts. The result is a Victorian-style mystery that quietly behaves like a piece of clockwork.
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Historical Context & Significance
At 832 pages, it is the longest winner; Catton was the youngest winner at age 28.