The Night Ship by Jess Kidd

The Night Ship by Jess Kidd
UK Publication: August 2022
Reviewed by: Book Worm
Rating: [★★★]

This ARC was provided by Canongate (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis from Goodreads: Based on a true story, an epic historical novel from the award-winning author of Things in Jars that illuminates the lives of two characters: a girl shipwrecked on an island off Western Australia and, three hundred years later, a boy finding a home with his grandfather on the very same island.

1629: A newly orphaned young girl named Mayken is bound for the Dutch East Indies on the Batavia , one of the greatest ships of the Dutch Golden Age. Curious and mischievous, Mayken spends the long journey going on misadventures above and below the deck, searching for a mythical monster. But the true monsters might be closer than she thinks.

1989: A lonely boy named Gil is sent to live off the coast of Western Australia among the seasonal fishing community where his late mother once resided. There, on the tiny reef-shrouded island, he discovers the story of an infamous shipwreck…

My Thoughts: I had read the horrific story of the Batavia before so I was interested to see how this latest take would play out. This is a lot less gory than the real story and a lot of the worst events take place off screen. The reader can enjoy Mayken’s story as a girl exploring her surroundings and adjusting to life on ship, and even if we know the ending will not be happy it is subtly handled.

In the 1989 story Gil is an unusual boy whose choices leave him as an outcast among the hardened fishermen he lives among. Gil finds himself in searching for relics of the Batavia and learning the island’s bloody history.

I liked the way the events in both time lines overlap something going wrong on Batavia is mirrored by events on the island in 1989. I also liked the little hints of magical realism and the link between Gil and Mayken.

As with most dual timelines there is always one that pulls you in more and for me that was Mayken and the Batavia. The Gil sections while adding a counterpoint and mirroring were much less interesting to this reader.

Overall an enjoyable read that brushed over the true horror of events.

Who would like this? I would recommend this to those who like dual timelines and who can appreciate their history in a sanitised way.

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