For the first time in Russian, a novel is the winner of the Booker Prize in 2013 and, perhaps, the most striking event in the history of this prestigious award. The book broke two records at once: The Luminaries is the largest work ever to receive the Booker, and Eleanor Catton is the youngest winner (28 years old). So, welcome to New Zealand in the midst of the gold rush. Twelve people - including a priest, a pharmacist, a local newspaper publisher, two Chinese and a Maori native - gather in the back room of a run-down hotel to discuss several mysterious incidents in which they have somehow become involved: a fantastically successful young man, who owns the lion's share of the locals, has disappeared without a trace. plots, and in the hut of a poor miner who died that same night, a huge gold treasure was discovered, after which the most popular of the “night butterflies” of Hokitika decisively took the path of correction. Twelve conspirators lay out everything as best they can to a stranger who has accidentally slipped into their ranks. There are shipwrecks, smuggled gold, blackmail, unhappy love, fraud, revenge, accidental shots, a seance and a trial; There are missing cargo containers, hidden documents, and lost fortunes. It would seem that “The Luminaries” is a good old detective story like “The Woman in White” by Wilkie Collins. However, the structure of the book is based on astrology: the author calculated the movement of stars and planets as the plot developed, because the characters are connected with celestial bodies. Twelve "star" heroes corresponding to the zodiac signs, and seven "planetary" ones - all revolve around the "earth" hero, killed under mysterious circumstances. The translation, which took more than a year to complete, is masterfully done by Svetlana Likhacheva, known for her interpretations of such classics of the 19th century -XX centuries, like J. R. R. Tolkien, Lord Dunsany, William Morris, H. P. Lovecraft, Mary Stewart and others.