The Luminaries

Newly arrived prospector Walter Moody stumbles into a secret meeting of twelve local men in the New Zealand gold-rush town of Hokitika, each connected to a recent, tangled set of events: a wealthy prospector has vanished, a notorious prostitute has nearly died of an opium overdose, and a hermit has been found dead with a fortune hidden in his cottage. As the twelve men recount their versions of events, Moody — and the reader — must piece together a mystery of fortune, deception, and buried connections.

Eleanor Catton structures the novel astrologically, with each of the twelve men corresponding to a zodiac sign and the book's own length and chapter structure waning like the moon as the narrative unfolds. Winner of the 2013 Booker Prize, and at 28 Catton became the prize's youngest-ever winner.