Written in pitch-perfect historical register that richly evokes a mid-nineteenth century world of goldrush boom and bust, The Luminaries is at once a ghost story, a gripping mystery and an extraordinary piece of literary fiction that just last week, was included on the 2013 Man Booker Prize Shortlist.

 Set in 1866 in Hokitika, New Zealand, twelve men have sought secret council in the parlour of a decrepit hotel to discuss a coincidence: a whore has been found half-dead in the road, a drunken hermit has died on a fortune, and the wealthiest man in town has vanished.
In his review of the novel, Luke May writes:

 "Diggers, Chinese and Maori, traverse themes of home, exile and fortune, but it’s Coleridge’s albatross that haunts this ship – luck is a burden to fate, perhaps how love is to tragedy – and this is where readers should be prepared for their soul to be anatomised on an epic voyage that is nothing less than masterly

Footnote:
And bookseller Carole Beu reviews The Luminaries on Face V with Lindsey Dawson