We present to readers the novel-winner of the 2013 Booker Prize and, perhaps, the most striking event in the history of this prestigious award. The book broke two records at once: “Light” is the largest work in the history of the award, and Elinor Cutton is the youngest laureate (28 years old) Welcome to New Zealand at the height of the gold rush. Twelve people — including a priest, an apothecary, a local newspaper publisher, two Chinese and a Mori native — converge in the back room of a run-down hotel to discuss several mysterious incidents in which they somehow found themselves entangled. A fantastically lucky young man who owns the lion's share of local areas disappeared without a trace, and in the hut of the poor prospector who died that night a huge gold treasure was discovered, after which the most popular of the "night butterflies" of Hokitika resolutely embarked on the path of correction. Twelve conspirators lay out everything as if on the spirit of a stranger who accidentally crowded into their ranks . There are shipwrecks, and smuggled gold, and blackmail, and unhappy love, fraud, revenge, accidental shots, a spiritistic session and trial; there are missing shipping containers, and hidden documents, and lost fortunes. It would seem that “Light” is a good old detective like “Women 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 develops, because the actors are associated with celestial bodies. Twelve "star" heroes, corresponding to the zodiac signs, and seven "planetary" - all revolve around the hero-"earth", killed under mysterious circumstances.