Jess Kidd has written an imaginative historical novel about two children who lived centuries apart based on a tiny island off the Australian coast.
In 1628, Mayken, a young and extremely curious child is sent to her father following the death of her mother. She is put on the Batavia under the protection of her elderly nurse.
Mayken finds a way of getting into all the unsavoury, unsafe places in the ship where sailors and soldiers are billeted. She overhears murmurs of discontent among the crew. The ship founders on the rocks of the island and civilised behaviour disappears with the lack of fresh food and water.
In 1989 Gil also loses his mother and is sent to the island to live with his irascible fisherman grandfather, who is greatly disliked by the other residents. This makes Gil a target for the other children.
Somehow Gil can sense Mayken and she makes life bearable.
This is a well written novel and I enjoyed it more than I expected.
I was given this book in return for an honest review.
In 1628, Mayken, a young and extremely curious child is sent to her father following the death of her mother. She is put on the Batavia under the protection of her elderly nurse.
Mayken finds a way of getting into all the unsavoury, unsafe places in the ship where sailors and soldiers are billeted. She overhears murmurs of discontent among the crew. The ship founders on the rocks of the island and civilised behaviour disappears with the lack of fresh food and water.
In 1989 Gil also loses his mother and is sent to the island to live with his irascible fisherman grandfather, who is greatly disliked by the other residents. This makes Gil a target for the other children.
Somehow Gil can sense Mayken and she makes life bearable.
This is a well written novel and I enjoyed it more than I expected.
I was given this book in return for an honest review.