In The Night Ship, Jess Kidd weaves together the tales of Mayken, a young girl aboard the Batavia headed for the Dutch East Indies in 1629, and Gil, a nine year old sent to live with his Grandfather on an island off the Western Coast of Australia in 1989.Both are recently motherless and both are newly thrust into an alien environment, faced with unique challenges and rumours of monsters haunting their surroundings.
Mayken is a wonderfully precocious child who just wants to learn how to spit and become a sailor when she grows up. Accompanied by her nursemaid Imke she’d rather roam the Below World of the ship than sit and sew with the other fine young ladies on board. When Imke becomes increasingly unwell, Mayken believes her to be a victim of the eel-like monster Bullebek who is living down in the ship’s hold.
Gil is a quiet boy who has had a particularly traumatic past. He becomes unwittingly embroiled in the feud between his grandfather and the Zanetti family, causing more pain and suffering along the way. Accompanied by his best friend, Enkido the tortoise, he explores the Island and learns more about the famous shipwreck just off the coast; including the ghost of Little May, a girl who was a victim of the Batavia disaster.
The real life tale of what happened to the people on board the Batavia is horrific enough but Jess Kidd manages to make it even more insidious and disturbing. She evokes such an oppressive atmosphere on board the ship that you can feel the terror slowly rising to the surface. Her beautiful writing wonderfully juxtaposes with the horror of the words themselves.
This is a gorgeous book about grief, love, being different and the acceptance of those differences. It’s also a story about loyalty, friendship and sacrifice and the realisation that sometimes the monsters in our lives are sadly not make believe.
Mayken is a wonderfully precocious child who just wants to learn how to spit and become a sailor when she grows up. Accompanied by her nursemaid Imke she’d rather roam the Below World of the ship than sit and sew with the other fine young ladies on board. When Imke becomes increasingly unwell, Mayken believes her to be a victim of the eel-like monster Bullebek who is living down in the ship’s hold.
Gil is a quiet boy who has had a particularly traumatic past. He becomes unwittingly embroiled in the feud between his grandfather and the Zanetti family, causing more pain and suffering along the way. Accompanied by his best friend, Enkido the tortoise, he explores the Island and learns more about the famous shipwreck just off the coast; including the ghost of Little May, a girl who was a victim of the Batavia disaster.
The real life tale of what happened to the people on board the Batavia is horrific enough but Jess Kidd manages to make it even more insidious and disturbing. She evokes such an oppressive atmosphere on board the ship that you can feel the terror slowly rising to the surface. Her beautiful writing wonderfully juxtaposes with the horror of the words themselves.
This is a gorgeous book about grief, love, being different and the acceptance of those differences. It’s also a story about loyalty, friendship and sacrifice and the realisation that sometimes the monsters in our lives are sadly not make believe.