The latest book by Jess Kidd ‘The Night Ship’ is the cleverly blended fact and fiction story of the shipwrecked Batavia which sailed in the 1620’s. A young girl, Mayken van den Heuvel is aboard with her nursemaid Imke, sailing in search of Mayken’s father. Mayken experiences life in the Above and Below Worlds including the fetid smells, disease and vermin. The latter stages of the ships fate is brutal and shocking.
The book simultaneously tells the story of Gil Hurley who has come to live with his unwelcoming fisherman grandfather Joss on an island off Australia in the late 1980’s. The island has finds from the shipwrecked Batavia and Gil and Mayken have similarities in their lives such as both lost their mothers at a young age. Gil is a complex character and there is darkness and difficulty in his young life.
I wasn’t so enamoured by the mystical and allusive elements but overall I really enjoyed the book and will go on to further research the story of the Batavia.
Thank you to Readers First and to the publisher for the opportunity of a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
The book simultaneously tells the story of Gil Hurley who has come to live with his unwelcoming fisherman grandfather Joss on an island off Australia in the late 1980’s. The island has finds from the shipwrecked Batavia and Gil and Mayken have similarities in their lives such as both lost their mothers at a young age. Gil is a complex character and there is darkness and difficulty in his young life.
I wasn’t so enamoured by the mystical and allusive elements but overall I really enjoyed the book and will go on to further research the story of the Batavia.
Thank you to Readers First and to the publisher for the opportunity of a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.