Two Booker Literary Prize surprises: the youngest winner and the thickest book to win the award.
Slow on the first pages, the novel subtly captures me, drawing me into a series of incredible, strange, frightening events. In the New Zealand gold digger town of Hokitika, a hermit prospector dies in January 1866, and a gold treasure is found in his hut; a politician arrives to meet with voters, and his chest with documents disappears without a trace; a young gold miner goes missing despite his fortune… Twelve respected residents of Hokitika decide to start an investigation. They gather a council, choose newcomer Walter Madi as their arbiter and tell him their life stories, wanting to get out of the current confusion with the least losses, or better, to win. And then it turns out that telling the truth is painful and scary for them, and they are not used to trusting each other.
The deeper I dive into the book, the more clearly I understand that the detective story here is not at all the main thing. Catton’s novel is rather philosophical, it is about the desire and (im)possibility to start life anew. After all, this so tempting — to pay off fears, destroy evidence, find connections, comprehend the secrets of the universe and, armed with new knowledge, give life a second chance. But in vain: on the other side of the world, even after 20-30 years, the shadows of the past haunt and the same feelings. The situations are repeated until the heroes decide to tell the truth, refuse revenge, choose mercy instead of gold. Life is cyclical, subject to heavenly laws, which are strict, but fair to a certain extent. Only two lovers manage to free themselves from their power. All they can do is to believe that the other is alive and in love. Not looking for evidence and not knowing doubts. For them, a blank page opens.
Translation from English by Svetlana Likhacheva. Alphabet, Foreigner, 800 p.