The novel is set in the year 1866 during the age of gold
rush. There is a place called Hokitika in New Zealand. A whore tries to kill
herself, a hermit is found dead with gold stashed in his hut and an unsigned
will and a wealthy man disappears. Walter Moody arrives in Hokitika to prospect
gold as he stumbles into a gathering of
twelve men on a stormy night who had assembled to make sense of the three
incidents. Every one knew partial truth and as the plot unfolds, just like the luminaries of the moon and one gets drawn into it more and more. Its structure is fascinatingly brilliant as each character becomes a kaleidoscope in itself.
It is a not an everyday kind of book and a must read.
In a scale of 20 we give it a 19.5. (half a point retained as it became predictable in the last pages, but mind you in the very last pages)
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