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 twelve 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. It is full of narrative, linguistic and psychological pleasures, and has a fiendishly clever and original structuring device. 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 and will confirm for critics and readers that Catton is one of the brightest stars in the international writing firmament.

I am bringing this book to the BCBrum meet-up this afternoon. You can find us at @bxbrum on Twitter! If not taken by one of the attendees, it will end up on the bookshelves in the cafe.

If this is your first experience with BookCrossing, thanks so much for picking up this book and coming to the BookCrossing website to find out what it's all about. Welcome to the addictive world of BookCrossing!

I look forward to hearing what you thought of this book, and of your plans for it.