Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of drug use.

Astrology, or the practice of reading the positions of the stars and other celestial objects to divine both the future and people’s characters, is the organizing motif of The Luminaries. The novel is divided into 12 parts, and each part begins with an astrological chart that details how the characters interact with one another in that section; this also corresponds with the real astral chart on that day and in that location, which is designated by the latitude and longitude written on the chart.

Further, even the major characters in the novel are each linked to astrological symbols. The 12 members of the Crown Hotel council are each related to one of the 12 zodiac signs. The seven “planetary” characters are each represented with a symbol on the chart in the “house” (or sign of the zodiac) that they interact with in that part of the story. The chapter names in all of the parts—with the exception of Part 5 and Part 10—are named for these interactions. As an example of how to decode this system, Chapter 10 of Part 1 is titled “Venus in Capricorn.” Venus, a symbol of desire, represents Lydia in the novel, and Capricorn corresponds with Gascoigne.