Rate this book

The Luminist: A Novel (2011)

by David Rocklin(Favorite Author)

3.67 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0979018870 (ISBN13: 9780979018879)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Hawthorne Books

review 1: An interesting story about the beginnings of photography and loosely based on the work of Julia Margaret Cameron. Catherine Colebrook, the young wife of Charles, a once important British man, is not like the other British women in colonial Ceylon in the mid-1800's. She passionately follows her fascination with making successful photographic images. Reduced to near poverty they take on a young Eligius as a servant. He soon becomes a willing and knowledgeable apprentice with a very good understanding of light. His close connection with the Colebrooks and refusals to betray them and side with his fellow villagers leaves him without a friend or anyone who will trust him except Catherine, Charles and their daughter Julia. There is a political thread throughout the novel t... moreoo. The unjust treatment of the natives by the colonists, their religious differences and the unrest and retaliations of the villagers adds another dimension.
review 2: The Luminist,is the story of Catherine Colebrook, the proper wife of a fading diplomat and Eligius, an Indian teenager, who becomes the Colebrook's servant when his father is killed demanding native rights. The story takes place in colonial Ceylon and is a story of both Catherine's obsession with the science of photography and Eligius's struggle with the place that society has relegated him to. Their stories are interwoven and it is an interesting look at that time in history. I liked the character of Eligius but I thought Catherine was a little weird...a little too obsessed for my liking! less

Download links for: The Luminist: A Novel

Advertising