The Luminist

IN COLONIAL INDIA, at a time of growing friction between the ruling British and the restless Indian populace, a Victorian woman and her young Tamil Indian servant defy convention, class, and heartbreak to investigate what is gained - and lost - by holding life still. Suggested by the life and work of photographic pioneer Julia Margaret Cameron, The Luminist filters 19th century Ceylon through the lens of an English woman, Catherine Colebrook and a 15 year old Tamil boy, Eligius Shourie. Left fatherless by soldiers, Eligius is brought as a servant to the Colebrooks' neglected estate. In the shadow of Catherine's obsession to arrest beauty - to select a moment from the thousands comprising her life in Ceylon and hold it apart from mere memory - Eligius transforms into her apprentice in the creation of the first haunting photographs in history.


Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Catapult
Published: 09/27/2011
ISBN: 9780979018879
Pages: 324
Weight: 0.95lbs
Size: 9.00h x 5.60w x 0.80d
Award: IndieFab awards - Honorable Mention

Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 08/15/2011
Kirkus Reviews 10/01/2011
Foreword 08/30/2011