First Impression Friday will be a meme where you talk about a book that you JUST STARTED! Maybe you’re only a chapter or two in, maybe a little farther. Based on this sampling of your current read, give a few impressions and predict what you’ll think by the end.

Synopsis:

It is 1866, and Walter Moody has come to make his fortune upon the New Zealand goldfields. On the night of his 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.

Happy Friday everyone! That is another work week in the books. It is time to dive into the weekend. But before that, I hope that everyone is ending the week on a high note. I hope everyone was able to tick off all the items on their to-do lists. I hope that everyone was able to complete what they started during the first day of the week. I hope the week went well for everyone and that we are all diving into the weekend free of worries. If the week has gone awry, I hope that the weekend will provide you a reprieve. I hope we all spend the weekend pursuing the things that we are passionate about. I hope that everyone will be showered with good news, blessings, and happiness. More importantly, I hope everyone will be healthy, physically, mentally, and spiritually.

I just realized that we are already midway through March. How time flies. Regardless, I hope that the rest of the month will go well for everyone. I originally planned to read works of Japanese literature this month. However, in the end, I decided to read the works of female writers. This is in commemoration of Women’s History Month. I had the same motif in March 2020, if my memory serves me right; this was the first time I held an all-women reading month. Interestingly and without design, I ended my February reading journey by reading four works by female writers in a row so I have already established some sort of reading momentum going into March. My foray into the works of female writers is kicking into high gear. I am currently reading Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries.

Before 2019, I had never heard of the New Zealand writer nor had I encountered any of her works. During one of my random (not really) excursions to the bookstore, I came across The Luminaries. I simply skimmed through it although I have to admit, I was riveted by its thickness; I like long reads. When I learned it was the winner of the 2013 Booker Prize, I did not hesitate to buy the book. However, it would end up gathering dust on my bookshelf before I finally got to read it. I made it part of my 2024 Top 24 Reading List, making it the sixth book from the aforementioned list that I read. I guess I am starting on my reading challenges this early to avoid cramming toward the end of the year.

In a way, The Luminaries is a way for me to achieve another one of my goals this year: read at least two books from each of the six continents. It is a work of historical fiction that transported me to nineteenth-century New Zealand. The story opens with the novel’s main protagonist, Walter Moody, entering the smoking room of the Crown Hotel where he stumbled upon a clandestine meeting between twelve men. The men have gathered around to discuss a series of mysterious and troubling events that have recently swept Hokitika. These twelve men would eventually become the other protagonists of the story.

But before being swept into the crux of the story, the twelve men interrogated (not really because it was socially) Moody. While he was initially ambivalent about the queries, we soon learn that Moody was from Scotland and he traveled to New Zealand in search of his father who abandoned him and his stepmother. They were left destitute and Moody’s sense of honor prompted him to rectify their situation. He managed to trace his father only for their reunion to turn horrific. Fearing for his life, Moody left Port Chalmers in a hurry and disembarked in Hokitika, New Zealand, on January 27, 1866. This also prompted him to seek a different vocation. With the gold rush kicking into high gear, he planned to seek his fortune in the goldfields. This then leads us to the mysterious events in Hokitika that led to the twelve men’s clandestine meeting.

It all started thirteen days before the arrival of Moody, January 14 to be exact. The local town hermit, Crosbie Wells, was found lifeless in his cabin by a politician named Alistair Lauderback on his way into town. The initial investigation showed there was no foul play; Wells died peacefully. However, upon closer inspection, several things did not add up. For one, gold worth several thousand pounds was found hidden in his cabin. There was also an unsigned deed between Emery Staines, a rich and likable young man, and Anna Wetherell, a prostitute found by Reverend Devlin the day after January 14; Staines owed Wetherell £2,000 and Wells was a witness to the deed.

This was exacerbated by Staines’ sudden disappearance; he disappeared on the same day Wells’ lifeless body was found. Wetherell, on the other hand, was found lying on the road unconscious. It was suggested that she tried to commit suicide. At the heart of all these inquiries was the mysterious Francis Carver. He seems to be the single thread that ties all of the mystery’s elements together. An enigma, Carver is the captain of the ship Godspeed. The Godspeed abruptly left Hokitika in the middle of the night. Things got more interesting, or perhaps, intriguing with the arrival of Lydia Wells who presented herself to be the wife of Crosbie. None of the town’s denizens have ever heard of Wells’ wife.

There seem a lot of things happening and there is a Dickensian cast; Catton had a good sense of providing a listing of all the characters at the start of the book. Another interesting aspect was the interjection of astrology into the story. Catton discovered that, while planning for the book, there was a triple conjunction in Sagittarius at the time the novel was set. Now this makes it interesting because the twelve characters Moody met in the smoking room were born under different stars, i.e. they represent the twelve Zodiac signs. Someone with an interest in astrology might find this engaging.

I am nearly midway through the book and the truth still seems so far away. Nevertheless, my interest is piqued by the eclectic cast of characters. I am looking forward to how Catton will tie all of the book’s elements together. How about you fellow reader? What book or books are you going to take with you this weekend? I hope you get to enjoy whatever you are reading right now. Happy weekend!