Description

A SUNDAY TIMES BEST HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR
A BBC TWO BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICK

1628. Embarking on a journey in search of her father, a young girl called Mayken boards the Batavia, the most impressive sea vessel of the age. During the long voyage, this curious and resourceful child must find her place in the ship’s busy world, and she soon uncovers shadowy secrets above and below deck. As tensions spiral, the fate of the ship and all on board becomes increasingly uncertain.

1989. Gil, a boy mourning the death of his mother, is placed in the care of his irritable and reclusive grandfather. Their home is a shack on a tiny fishing island off the Australian coast, notable only for its reefs and wrecked boats. This is no place for a child struggling with a dark past and Gil’s actions soon get him noticed by the wrong people.

The Night Ship is an enthralling tale of human brutality, providence and friendship, and of two children, hundreds of years apart, whose fates are inextricably bound together.

Publisher Review

A novel of mutiny and imagination connecting two children hundreds of years apart * * Guardian * * The ambition and execution of [Jess Kidd's] new book The Night Ship is breathtaking! Sweet and grim, epic and domestic - I loved it . . . readers are in for a treat -- GRAHAM NORTON Jess Kidd is a wonderful writer and this dazzling new novel is breathtaking in its imaginative reach -- DAVID PARK A tender, heartbreaking and, at times, very funny evocation of childhood and how past events can haunt the consciousness of the present. The Night Ship is an amazing story, a triumph of the imagination -- MARY COSTELLO Weaves a spell around the reader, transporting them across centuries, between a doomed ship and a dying island. The result is a true work of magic, and one that will haunt me for years -- V.E. SCHWAB, internationally bestselling author of THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE A novel that will sweep you away entirely. The Night Ship is about love and family, growing up and the losses that come with it. Mayken and Gil are brilliant protagonists, beautifully rendered. I can't remember the last time I fell so completely in love with a book -- ALEX PRESTON Beautiful, evocative and heartbreaking, The Night Ship demonstrates, as if we did not know it already, Jess Kidd's mastery of prose and storytelling. She shines brightly above us all with her own unique voice -- ANNE GRIFFIN Immersive, imaginative and compassionate. Kidd combines a formidable command of her historical material with a lightness of touch and a warm humanity -- AMBROSE PARRY A remarkable achievement, a novel brimful of mystery and terror and wonder; a marvel of a book, I loved it -- AMANDA MASON The Night Ship is a beautiful, haunting story about two children living over 300 years apart. Congratulations Jess Kidd on this finely-crafted imaginative feat -- JO BROWNING WROE