The Luminaries

By: Eleanor Catton

Narrated by: Mark Meadows

Length: 29 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

Longlisted – Baileys Women’s Prize 2014

Man Booker Prize, Fiction, 2013

Canadian Governor General's Literary Award, 2013.

It is 1866 and Walter Moody has come to make his fortune upon the New Zealand goldfields. On arrival, he stumbles across a tense gathering of 12 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. 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-20s, and will confirm for critics and listeners that Catton is one of the brightest stars in the international writing firmament.

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 now lives in Wellington, New Zealand.

©2013 Eleanor Catton (P)2013 Audible Ltd

Critic reviews

"The Luminaries is an impressive novel, captivating, intense and full of surprises." (Times Literary Supplement)

"The Luminaries is a breathtakingly ambitious 800-page mystery with a plot as complex and a cast as motley as any 19th-century doorstopper. That Catton's absorbing, hugely elaborate novel is at its heart so simple is a great part of its charm. Catton's playful and increasingly virtuosic denouement arrives at a conclusion that is as beautiful as it is triumphant." (Daily Mail)

"It is awesomely - even bewilderingly - intricate. There's an immaculate finish to Catton's prose, which is no mean feat in a novel that lives or dies by its handling of period dialogue. It's more than 800 pages long but the reward for your stamina is a double-dealing world of skullduggery traced in rare complexity. Those Booker judges will have wrists of steel if it makes the shortlist, as it fully deserves." (Evening Standard)

A magnificent tale of twists and turns

A marvellous swag of characters who intertwine in a plot that would have lost me if not for its sharply incised protagonists. You'll love the journey.

Epic tale

What an epic tale! I feel the need to listen again to capture all I missed!

good novel made exceptional by its narration

I am not sure I would have actually read this book. Much of it is dialogue and there are many characters to keep straight. The skillful narration & spot-on accents however, transformed this story into a mesmerizing tale. I recommend the audible version of this book to everyone I know!

Long and winding read, but worth the while

Who was your favorite character and why?

Anna

What about Mark Meadows’s performance did you like?

Mark Meadows was absolutely fabulous. There were many characters in the novel and he was able to assign a distinct voice to each one. I don't believe I would have enjoyed reading the book as much as I did listening to the story, because of the wonderful narration.

Outstanding reader

Was almost like listening to a drama with a cast of actors. Thoroughly enjoyable.

BRAVO!!

Amazed at the intricacies. Depth of so many characters. A great story with memorable historic and geographical facts. I loved it from start to finish!

Brilliant complex mystery/love story

What did you love best about The Luminaries?

The writing, the sense of place

Who was your favorite character and why?

Gascoigne--cheerful, independent, insightful, interesting past

Which character – as performed by Mark Meadows – was your favorite?

Walter Moody--the trial scenes were fabulous

Any additional comments?

This book is a complex and brilliantly conceived story with many layers about a remote place and time. The narration is pitch-perfect as Meadows rotates seamlessly between indigenous Maori accents, Irish, Scotch, and English accents. The story is told in a non linear fashion with multiple loops back to the original themes making it easier to grasp. The writing is spectacular. This is a unique piece with throwbacks to a Jane Austen style but with a rare and exquisite layering of plot lines. It takes some time to get through it but it's worth it.

I tried and tried.....

I really wanted to enjoy this book as it sounded so interesting from the descriptions as well as other reviews. I first tried to read the actual hard copy of this book, that was not working. I found myself unmotivated to read the amount of text to get to the story! Then I tried the audio approach and found myself drifting often. I made it through about 30% of the book before I decided to take a break. Maybe I will finish it someday. The narration was fine; it was just the amount of words I had to process to understand the meaning!

The plot was moderately intriguing and I do want to know about the remainder of the story, but the style of writing was a bit cyclical for me. I do appreciate novels that the writing is part of the process and thought that this was going be the same with this book. Maybe if there was a more intriguing onset to the story, it would have kept my interest.

Also, this won the Man Booker award......not sure what that really means anymore. I might not be so interested in reading the next winner of that award next time.

Simply extraordinary

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Not only WOULD iI recommend this book, I HAVE! … to any friend whom I know to enjoy mysteries, fine literature, narrative tone, and -- when possible -- an ear for just simply delectable fun between the lines.

What did you like best about this story?

Each of its many characters were impressively well drawn. The writing is masterful and there is always a sense that the author is having much fun in the writing, the teasing of the reader, the breathlessness of the mystery. It was the most enjoyable page turner I've read in decades. Typically I listen to audiobooks while I exercise. Well, thanks to this book, the number of miles I walked this last month increased substantially! If you love great storytelling, sophisticated literature, intriguing history, fabulous pitch perfect narration, and a true romp through a 19th century mystery, you'll love this audiobook.
If there is a flaw, it's that ending of the book feels a bit rushed … That's the only reason I did not give it five stars overall.

What about Mark Meadows’s performance did you like?

Mark Meadows' performance contributed more to the atmosphere and depth of the narrative than any of the many excellent narrators in other audio books to which I've listened. His performance is simply dazzling--just like the author's. His British accent; the perfect pitch, inflection, and pacing for this 19th century setting; the broad command of the different characters' voices--all made the listening experience so rich. I can't imagine that simply reading the words could have matched the depth and breath of this outstanding audio experience.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The most dazzling, thrilling, entertaining historical mystery of your life!

Narrator deserves an Oscar!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Luminaries to be better than the print version?

Yes! I read the book when it came out but felt that I couldn't adequately untangle the complex narrative and that I missed a lot. Mark Meadows is absolutely, astonishingly capable of juggling the accents and intonations of dozens of characters, a dozen or so of those being main players. He can do Irish, Scottish, English, Swedish, Chinese, French, men, women, high class, lower class, and more. And none of the characters share HIS voice, the voice of the narrator! Mind blown. He has enriched my understanding of this wonderful novel a thousand fold.

Who was your favorite character and why?

There are so many characters, and all are incredibly detailed. My favorite sympathetic characters are the Maori, Te Rau Tauwhare, the owner of the Gridiron hotel, Edgar Clinch, and the newspaperman, Benjamin Lowenthal. I also really like the characters of Aubert Gascoigne and Walter Moody.

Have you listened to any of Mark Meadows’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but what I wouldn't give for him to re-do Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell! The current version is incredibly disappointing. I couldn't even get through it. The multiple, painfully poor narrators of Cloud Atlas could all be masterfully replaced by Mr. Meadows. If Mark Meadows re-did that novel I would pay ANY price to hear it.

Who was the most memorable character of The Luminaries and why?

Impossible. There is no solid MAIN character. This is an ensemble effort. The best part of this audiobook is hands-down the narrator.

Any additional comments?

If you've read this novel and were left confused or unsure what to think, I highly recommend this audible version. Due to the complexity, I recommend glancing at the Wiki page or reading the first chapter to get a hold of the cast of characters so that you are better able to follow the story.