The Luminaries

I feel slightly churlish giving such an incredibly intricate and well written book so few stars, but unfortunately, I just didn't enjoy it all that much. There were too many characters introduced so slowly and in such detail I had forgotten who many of them were by the time they reappeared, and I spent a lot of time hoping for some kind of recap so I could once again get back on track with what was going on.

Having started this while in New Zealand, it was fun trying to imagine the modern town of Hokitika reduced to such squalor and frenetic activity, like the antipodean version of the wild west. Catton certainly has a brilliant command of psychology and behaviour, imbuing all of her characters with unique and complex motivations. But the only one I really cared about was Staines, and the love story with him and Anna is certainly the highlight of the book.

There are many good reviews elsewhere on Goodreads which elaborate on all the clever structural and astrological tricks that are employed throughout the novel, but most of them went over my head. It's not a great mystery, it's certainly not a page turner, and it's at least 300 pages too long. But I was still mightily impressed by it, while remaining mostly bored.