The Luminaries - Eleanor Catton

 I'd had my eye on this book for ages but was always slightly intimidated by its monstrous size - at over 800 pages, this is quite the literary feat. I decided that in September, with the drawing in of the nights and the coming of Autumn, I would opt to read quality over quantity with my chosen books of the month and so settled that this would be my challenge. Despite its size, I raced through this book at lightning speed and became completely entranced by its complex cast of characters, chronology and the depth of the mystery which unfolded.

Our protagonist, Walter Moody, has just arrived at the New Zealand goldfields in 1866, with the hope of digging up a fortune. He arrives at The Crown inn where he is lodging whilst he waits for the return of his lost luggage, and upon entering the bar that evening he realises that he has unwittingly interrupted a secret meeting of twelve local men. Each of these men plays a part in a series of unsolved crimes which have happened in the area of late - a man has gone missing, a local prostitute has tried to commit suicide, and a huge fortune has been found in the home of a recently-deceased hermit. 

Moody is entrusted into the confidence of the men in their campaign to discover the truth about the strange happenings, and finds that he is, unbeknown to himself at first, also connected in some ways. The book is gloriously complicated (you have to concentrate!) and highly intricate - ordinarily I'm a little scared off by books that pride themselves on their complexity, but in this case I was enthralled. There is something so satisfying about having to really work your brain to figure out what's happening, and it's definitely worth the time and concentration.

Catton's writing style is lush and descriptive, whilst not overly flowery. Her characterisation is stellar and you really become attached to the people involved in each branch of the mystery. The characters are realistic and believable which I appreciated in a novel which has so many extremes, and also encompasses elements of the supernatural at times. Overall, this is a masterpiece of a novel which deserves much more attention - don't be scared off by its length and character list, it is worth every moment.