The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
The astonishing and epic second novel from the prize-winning author of The Rehearsal - a sure contender for every major literary prize.
It is 1866, and Walter Moody has come to make his fortune upon the New Zealand 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. A wealthy man has vanished, a whore has tried to end her life, and an enormous fortune has been discovered in the home of a luckless drunk. Moody is soon drawn into the mystery: a network of fates and fortunes that is as complex and exquisitely patterned as the night sky.
The Luminaries is an extraordinary piece of fiction, which more than fulfils the promise of The Rehearsal. Like that novel, it is full of narrative, linguistic and psychological pleasures, and has a fiendishly clever and original structuring device. Written in pitch-perfect historical register, richly evoking a mid-19th century world of shipping and banking and goldrush boom and bust, it is also a ghost story, and a gripping mystery. It is a thrilling achievement for someone still in her mid-twenties, and will confirm for critics and readers that Eleanor Catton is one of the brightest stars in the international writing firmament.
About the Author
Eleanor Catton was born in 1985 in Canada and raised in New Zealand. She completed an MA in Creative Writing at Victoria University in 2007 and won the Adam Prize in Creative Writing for The Rehearsal. She was the recipient of the 2008 Glenn Schaeffer Fellowship to study for a year at the prestigious Iowa Writers' Workshop in the US and went on to hold a position as Adjunct Professor of Creative Writing there, teaching Creative Writing and Popular Culture. Eleanor won a 2010 New Generation Award. She lives in Wellington, New Zealand.
Format: Paperback | 848 pages
Dimensions (cm): 23.5 x 15.3 x 5.2 | 1.03kg
Publication Date: 01 Oct 2013
Publisher: Granata Books
Publication City/Country: London, United Kingdom
Language: English
ISBN10: 1847088767
ISBN13: 9781847088765
Condition: Good
A book that has been read but is in good condition. Some minor damage to the cover including very minor scuff marks, and the laminating has started to come unstuck along some parts of the front and back covers both, but no holes or tears. There is a slight lean in the spine. The majority of pages are undamaged with very minimal creasing but no tearing. No pencil underlining of text, no highlighting of text and no writing in margins. There is very minor discolouring, most of which is only visible on the block when the book is shut. No missing pages.