An interesting tale of the fate of two children linked over almost 400 years by their connection to the ill-fated ship Batavia. The novel is based on the story of the newly constructed flagship of the Dutch East India Company which was on her maiden voyage from Amsterdam to Batavia when tragedy struck and the ship was wrecked off the western coast of Australia.
Mayken set off on her journey as a high-class passenger on the ship in 1628 where life starts as an adventure hunting monsters and ends tragically; Gil is sent to live with his estranged (and strange) grandfather in 1989 on the coral island close to where the ship had sunk.
Skilfully written with well researched historical material, this story inspired me to look further in the subject area - always a good sign of a tale well told.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I wasn't sure if I was going to like this - it took a while to get going but when it did I was hooked. Set in two timelines, it uses the childish terror from folktales to explore the brutality humanity is capable of. I must admit I was more interested in Mayken's storyline than Gil's, but both narratives were weaved together expertly and Kidd masterfully evokes the loneliness and abandonment from both island living and a protracted ship voyage. Definitely an interesting read if you're a fan of historical fiction.

EXCERPT: Gil stands next to her, breathing tobacco smoke and mineral air. She smokes the third rollie contemplating an area of scrub. One of the bushes is bigger, more gnarly and set apart. It's branches are hung with ribbons and beads. Around the base of the bush, children's toys are arranged. Some of the offerings look new: a yellow plastic yo-yo, a tiny red bus. Some look old and weathered: faceless dolls, faded bears.
'That's the raggedy tree. Now you've seen all the landmarks, apart from Bill Nord's new dunny.'
Gil watches the ribbons flutter. 'What's all this for?'
'The dead girl who haunts the island. She hangs out here mostly.'
Gil, suddenly breathless, thinks of his mother. She was young here. 'What dead girl?'
'Old time ghost from the shipwreck.'
Gil feels himself calm. 'There's no such thing as ghosts.' He moves forward, touches the ribbons, straightens a fallen toy at the foot of the bush.
'You know about the shipwreck?' Sylvia takes a few deep, reflective puffs. 'Way, way back. They were Dutch. One lot went about murdering the other lot. Their boat was called the Batavia.'

ABOUT 'THE NIGHT SHIP': 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: 'The dead can't hurt you. It's the living you need to watch out for.'

I think I would have been a lot happier with this read had it simply been Gil's story. I found Mayken's story to be largely tedious and repetitive, while Gil's story is a touching one of a boy who is different and very much alone. His grandfather, with whom he comes to live on Beacon Island, is a hard man, a fisherman. He didn't understand his daughter, and he doesn't understand his grandson.

Both children are nine when their mothers die. Other than that and a relic that once belonged to Mayken that is found and treasured by Gil, there's not a lot that connects them. I kept waiting for some amazing connection, some revelation, but it never came.

I didn't know when I began this read that Mayken's story is based around a real shipwreck. But this doesn't occur until quite late in the book and I was already disillusioned with that portion of the story by then. The shipwreck didn't improve the story at all.

Mayken's story went from grim to grimmer; whereas I always felt hope for Gil. He is lonely and bullied, his only friend a tortoise, but there is something about this boy that touched my heart.

⭐⭐.5 and all for Gil.

#TheNightShip #NetGalley

I: @jesskiddwriter @canongatebooks

T: @JessKiddHerself @canongatebooks

#contemporaryfiction #historicalfiction

THE AUTHOR: Jess Kidd was brought up in London as part of a large family from county Mayo and has been praised for her unique fictional voice.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Canongate via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Night Ship by Jess Kidd for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

"The Night Ship" by Jess Kidd is a book with a gorgeous cover and a beautifully written story inside!

In 1629, nine-year-old Mayken, now motherless, is traveling via the ship Batavia's maiden voyage, to live with the wealthy father she has never met. She is joined on her journey by her nursemaid, Imke, to whom she is deeply attached.

At sea, Imke mysteriously falls gravely ill and Mayken is convinced there is a mythical sea-monster on board who is responsible. She ventures high and low through the ship in her search to trap the villainous, Bullebak.

In 1989, nine-year-old Gil, after the death of his mother, is sent to live with his fisherman grandfather on an island off the coast of Western Australia. Soon after his arrival, he learns of the notorious shipwreck of the Batavia that happened centuries ago on the coral reefs surrounding the island.

Both Mayken and Gil find that cruelty, nightmares, horror and monsters can surface anywhere, anytime. There is unrest on the ship Mayken travels on and unrest on the island where Gil now lives...

Historical Fiction with touches of Magical Realism is the spark that led to requesting this ARC and my first experience reading one of Jess Kidd's books. If I were to briefly describe this story, I would say it is 'very full'. Full of history and imagination, survival and tragedy, life and death, darkness and light, and everything in-between.

I was moved by these parallel stories, told in two alternating timelines three-hundred years apart, of two nine-year-old main characters, each newly motherless, painfully curious, and overtly mischievous in their current surroundings as their vivid imaginations spiral through the chapters.

I love how the author combines a hauntingly tragic historic event with a parallel story, in a modern timeline, that draws so many parallel themes between the two. This story slowly builds for most of the book until it arrives at the heart of each timeline.

The creativity is remarkable, the writing is beautifully descriptive and yet, I was a bit confused at times, and found myself rereading sections to fully understand the inferences within the story line. This felt like an intensely concentrated story and I didn't want to miss even the smallest detail of its uniqueness or the diversity of the characterizations. Believe me, there is no shortage of characters in this story and it is the author's keen writing ability that keeps them all weirdly different and distinguishable.

I highly recommend this book and I will be very busy now discovering this author's backlist!

Thank you to NetGalley, Canongate, and Jess Kidd for an ARC of this book. It has been an honor to give my honest and voluntary review.

Jess Kidd skilfully weaves together the stories of two children who live centuries apart in this super-readable tale partly based on real events.

The two kid characters, Mayken and Gil, are both beautifully drawn, and both time periods are equally compelling.

It's apparent from early on, and from the start to those who may know the history of The Batavia (a ship Mayken is travelling on), that the ending is unlikely to be a barrel of laughs. In fact, I'd have settled for a barrel of drinking water (this is a lame joke for those who've read the book). But whilst, there is a bleakness to some of the story, it is told with humanity throughout.

And it was emotional when one of the characters started to come out of their shell (lame joke 2, sorry).

Minor nitpicks, because I do loves me a nitpick:
*I felt the characters of the over-merchant, skipper and under-merchant should have been fleshed out earlier. They had important roles to play ultimately but they just felt like titles, not fully realised characters.
*The quasi-supernatural element (The Buleback legend) didn't add much for me. I say that as someone who loves supernatural elements entering books. I would genuinely have welcomed the addition of a werewolf in Where the Crawdads Sing, or Sally Rooney books to include a subplot on spontaneous combustion, or indeed for The Essex Serpent to have had... a serpent. But here, the supernatch stuff didn't feel needed.

But overall it's a big thumbs up for me for The Night Ship.

This novel fully transports the reader, it richly captures the 1628 Batavia journey and its tragic demise. The story is also counter-balanced in 1989 and the search for the wreckage, captured through the eyes of the children, Mayken (1628) and Gil (1989), both older through experience, than their young years. The novel is full of corruption and malfeasance, particularly by the crew and eventually “The ship darkly sours” as mutiny and greed cause the shipwreck and a new barbarism. Despite this bleakness there are many wonderful characters that are so well-rounded by the author that the reader cannot help but be captivated. It is based on the true story and embellished with an other-worldliness yet also simple down-to-earth characteristics of youthful purity and defiance. Highly recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley and Canongate Books for a review copy.

This is my second outing with Jess Kidd, and boy did she deliver!

The Night Ship is a highly addictive read; historical fiction with an unusual edge, this is what Kidd does best, and she pulls it off to perfection here.

Her writing is always hugely evocative and immersive; you live and breathe right alongside her characters, you journey with them. There is something quite tangible about the world Kidd invites us into, and I'm happy to follow her wherever she wishes to guide us to next.

With alternating timelines, each one as engaging as the other, this tells the tales of Mayken and Gil, so many years apart but also seamlessly intertwined. I adored them both, they each go through so much despite their young ages, and I felt for them both. At times brutal, raw, and emotional, this is a book I'll be rereading for sure, and highly recommend!

I enjoyed this book and thought it was unique and entertaining. The book was a simple but nice read and I do see potential for this author.

I do think that the book tried to do too much; it was a mystery, fantasy, found family, historical fiction all at once. It was dealing with many themes and relationships, while jumping between timelines, and at times I think it could have benefitted from more focus.

Overall it was a nice read that I think others would enjoy. If you like the sound of it, go for it!

Thanks: Received from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Oh my goodness, this book was such an emotive read for me! Sarah brings to life the two main characters, Mayken and Gil, in such a way that caused my heart to break and tears to come to my eyes numerous times. There is a lovely balance between character and plot development, though it is with the former where I found Jess to be exceptional.

Split into two timelines, young Mayken is on board the ill-fated Batavia in 1629. Based on true events, her experiences and adventures on the ship are brought vividly to life and the relationships she develops on board become ones you genuinely care for. Mayken is such a fierce, likeable and loveable character.

Gill is a young boy in 1989, sent to live with his grandfather on a small fishing island following the tragic death of his mother. Scientists are on the island investigating an old shipwreck and Gil learns stories of a young girl who haunts the island... Gil's storyline in particular explores the impact of trauma, attachment and prejudice - but in a quite delicate way.

I can't rate this book high enough, it's one that my thoughts keep going back to after reading it. My heart might have been torn into tiny shreds, but I would definitely recommend it!

This novel takes us between two storylines. In the first storyline, we follow Mayken, a young Dutch girl who lost her mother and is travelling on the doomed Batavia in 1628. In the second one, we follow Gil, a young boy who also lost his mother and comes to live on Beacon Island with his grandad in 1989. That’s where the two stories keep crossing.
The writing is superb and the characters are all interesting and brilliantly portrayed. The darkness and brutality of human beings makes this book quite bleak but thought provoking. The atmosphere is heavy and the slow pace amplified the effect.
The historical part of the book has been thoroughly researched, including visits to the Abrolhos Islands, the Shipwreck museum, Batavialand and talks with many knowledgeable people on the way, and the author brings it to life in a vivid and powerful way.
In spite of the beauty of the writing and the incredible story of the Batavia, the magic-realism element of the novel was not for me and was too emphasised to my taste.
This book piqued my interest about the story of the Batavia and it made me discover this incredible story almost as if I had been there. A very interesting read.

A beautiful tale based on a true story of a shipwreck in 1628, The Night Ship flits between the historical part with Mayken who finds herself on the ship, headed to its namesake Batavia, and 1989 where Gill finds himself on an island.

If you enjoy tales of shipwrecks, eel like creatures called Bullebak from folk lore and plucky characters, then this is the tale for you!

The Night Ship is beautifully written and takes us across 3 centuries where echoes of the past live on. I struggled at times with the constant backwards and forwards between Gil's 1989 world and Mayken's in 1629. I preferred the historical fiction aspect and could have spent more time in that world with the sailors, soldiers and passengers.

I was sent a copy of The Night Ship by Jess Kidd to read and review by NetGalley. What a wonderful book! Steeped in history and full of harrowing excitement, this novel is based on the true story of the shipwreck of the Batavia in 1629. The chapters move between the life of Mayken, a child that is on the fated voyage, and a young boy, Gil, who lives more than 365 years later on a small island lying close to the wreck. Both sides of this story are captivating and atmospheric, both being utterly believable. This is one of those novels that you just can’t put down but don’t want to end – a must read!

The Night Ship is an evocatively written historical fiction novel, by an author who is new to me, based on the true story of the wreck of the Batavia on the Abrolhos islands off Western Australia in 1629. I had not heard of this previously, although suspect the story would be well known to Australian readers. It features fantastical elements, including mythical creatures known as the Bullebak and the Bunyip, but I wouldn’t describe it as fantasy. It’s not a cheery tale, as it deals with the cruelty shown by man to his fellow humans - even in desperate situations, and the author is not seeking to rewrite history. I’m not sure what prompted me to request this, as it’s very different to my usual choice of genres, but I’m glad I read it even if I didn’t exactly enjoy it.

In 1629, the brand new Dutch merchant ship Batavia set sail for the East Indies, carrying goods, soldiers, some well-to-do families, as well as the lower class below-decks passengers, and a significant amount of treasure. Nine year old Mayken is travelling to Batavia (which is now Jakarta) in the company of her nursemaid, to be reunited with the wealthy father she has never met, after the death of her mother. A mischievous inquisitive child, Mayken is soon roaming the ship and making friends amongst the crew, but as one tragedy after another befalls them, she becomes convinced that a sinister eel-like creature is stalking her. 360 years later, lonely Gil, who has also just lost his mother, arrives on Beacon island to stay with cantankerous crayfisherman Joss, his only remaining relative. Fascinated by the stories about the wreck, and the ghost of Little May who is reputed to haunt the island, Gil will struggle to find his place amongst the loners who inhabit the desolate archipelago, especially when the community’s most powerful family take against him.

Told in omniscient third person present, this alternates chapters between 1928-9 and 1989 as the two motherless children, from very different backgrounds, face their new realities and defy the expectations of their carers to make sense of their situations. Their personalities are very different - Mayken is gregarious and inherently brave and kind, without the airs and graces that might be expected of a child of her status, whereas Gil has been profoundly damaged by an itinerant life with his drug-addicted single mother. Both get on better with adults than with other children, and both retreat into their imaginations when the going gets tough. This was not an easy read, because the heavy foreshadowing and what Gil learns about the shipwreck mean we know there are few happy endings for the 17th century characters, and the cynicism and brutality shown towards Gil by adults who really should know better was pretty depressing. “We don’t need monsters, Gil, we are the monsters.” and “The dead can’t hurt you, Gil. It’s the living you need to watch out for.” being representative quotes.

I did find the pace of this rather slow, not helped by the continuous switching between timelines - some chapters are only one page long. Still, it’s a powerful thought-provoking book about a particularly horrific episode in Australian history by a talented writer, that should appeal to those who enjoy more literary fiction. It’s worth googling for images of the Abrolhos - it seems remarkable that anyone could’ve survived there for so long.
A special mention for the gorgeous cover image - it would be worth buying the treebook version just for this!
Content warnings for violence towards children and innocents, and a particularly distressing if brief scene of animal cruelty.
Thanks to NetGalley and Canongate for the ARC. I am posting this honest review voluntarily. The Night Ship is available now.

In this new release from Jess Kidd, two narratives intersect and draw on the horrific and fascinating true story of an Indian Ocean shipwreck.

In 1628, the Batavia, the Dutch East India Company’s grand flagship, set out on her maiden voyage from Holland to her namesake: the capital of the Dutch East Indies. The ship foundered off the coast of western Australia, and the 300 surviving passengers and crew were stranded on the Houtman Abrolhos islands. What followed were events of nightmarish proportion: merchant Cornelisz instigated a mutiny against the Batavia’s commander Pelsaert, and he and his followers murdered nearly half of all who remained on the islands, enslaving the rest. By the time rescue came, only 122 passengers had survived.

The first and much less interesting of The Night Ship’s dual narratives is set aboard the Batavia. We meet the well-heeled nine-year-old Mayken on her way to the Indies to join her father, a mysterious merchant ensconced in imperial luxury. Mayken travels with her doughty and superstitious nursemaid Imke, the first of an extensive cast of characters we will meet in this timeline who sadly seldom rise above the stereotype. Mayken herself is precocious, indomitable and implausibly resistant to the rigid social stratification of 17th-century Dutch society. When Imke begins to sicken, Mayken is convinced by a shrewd cabin boy that her beloved nursemaid’s illness is the result of the Bullebak, a malign eel-like creature of folk legend. Disguised as a boy, she begins to search the dark and water-bound below-decks world of the Bataviafor Imke’s phantom assailant.

The second, more compelling thread of the novel takes place more than three centuries later in Australia. It is 1989, and Gil, a sullen, lonely pre-adolescent, is taken to Beacon Island after his mother’s death to live with his only remaining relative: an equally gloomy and desolate grandfather, Joss. Introverted Gil, still traumatised by his troubled mother’s death, is an apparent misfit among the island’s inhabitants. Still, he has survivors’ instincts.

Beacon is, of course, the same island on which the wreck survivors took unpropitious refuge, and Gil finds himself beguiled by its bloody history. He is drawn to a bush named the Raggedy Tree, where the locals leave offerings for “the dead girl who haunts the island”.

Gil and Mayken’s stories intersect, with the novel structured in alternating chapters. Although this style allows for elegant mirroring moments and paraphrased snippets across the two timelines, it frustrating meant losing, rather than gaining, momentum and consequently, in places, it felt a little too drawn out.

I didn't particularly enjoy the magic-realism element here and would much prefer Kidd spent time building up a darker read. Still, I am aware (from reading previous works) that this is a concept that Kidd weaves into her work and typically very well.

Saying this, the historical atrocity has clearly been well researched, and Kidd is a talented writer. Well worth a read.

Rightio. So. I came at this thinking this was a hisfic with dual timelines set on a spooky ship / island which is basically my dream book- uh but it wasn’t

I was just not hooked. It’s set between 1629 onboard the Batavia, and 1989 on the island and I felt on both sides the story just went straight in with all these characters and nothing was explained properly

And I didn’t really care about many of the characters. I liked Mayken (1629 mc) and Gil (1989 mc) but I didn’t get emotionally drawn in like I normally do with most books tbh. However! Enkidu the tortoise was the best character and I did have a little sob at one point, obviously. I honestly might have given up completely if Enkidu wasn’t in this.

There were a couple of exciting bits more towards the end as I sort of understood everything that was going on but then the book just ended. In the 1629 side of things I didn’t mind as I felt it was guessable / quite a good ending, but for Gil in 1989 I was waiting for quite a few loose ends to be tied up! And anything that was sorted out felt really rushed?!?

What I didn’t know which was really interesting was that the ship and the disaster is true! Like all that shit on the island in 1629 actually went down. Obviously there’s probably embellishment and all, but the fact these were real / based on real events improved it in my eyes somehow and I guess made the story more intriguing!

I think a lot of people will enjoy this, if you’re a hisfic fan definitely give this one a go, just not for me!

Shipwreck archaeology links two parallel stories of Mayken and Gil a nine year old girl and boy from the sixteenth and twenty first centuries.

A slow sense of doom builds in a very atmospheric way in both eras for the children from unpleasant ruthless adults.

Very power with unexpected conclusions.Thanks !!!

I really enjoyed this book; both timelines and characters have their own points of interest and singular tales of survival and friendship. The author is adept at building an atmosphere of intrigue and mystery, and I loved her writing style. Mayken’s story is historical fiction based on the ill-fated voyage, while Gil’s story is more modern although I enjoyed hearing about the attempts to salvage items from the wreck in the 80s, while Gil lived on the island.

My only issue with the book was the slightly slow pace of the first third, when I felt it dragged a bit. However, I really enjoyed it once it got in to its stride.

To start off, this was my first encounter with this author and one thing I knew going into this book is that her books always differ from one another.
The 𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙎𝙝𝙞𝙥 presents an atmospheric and supernatural even storyline between two timelines of 1628 and 1898, between two children, both 9-year-old. They both have just lost their mothers as well and I was stricken how complex these characters were and the numerous parallels between 𝙈𝙖𝙮𝙠𝙚𝙣, our mischievous and curious girl boarding the 𝘽𝙖𝙩𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙖 in 1628 and 𝙂𝙞𝙡, our sad introverted boy in 1698.
𝙈𝙖𝙮𝙠𝙚𝙣 is a tomboy, desperate to research and learn more about the Below World, the decks were soldiers, sailors and mysteries reside; 𝙂𝙞𝙡 is a sensitive and serious soul, not suited for the rigorous life of a fisherman’s island.
This book is also very well researched and dwells in the horrific history of 𝘽𝙖𝙩𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙖, the eponymous 𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙎𝙝𝙞𝙥.
It felt quite dark and ominous in a lot of ways that you’ll have to read it to understand as it will be quite a spoiler.
My issue with this book is that the story is quite bleak and not well paced in a lot of the chapters. I took a while reading it and found an effort to go back to it. I was almost at a point of DNF’ing it but at the same time was curious to see where the story lead. The grief of the two children is so sad that overshadows anything else. I love a good supernatural/magical realism tinge into a narrative and this didn’t do it for me – it felt forced.
I don’t mind a slow burner but I felt I needed more from the plot and less from the characters.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the e-arc.

The Night Ship is a tale of two children who live centuries apart but whose lives are mysteriously intertwined. It alternates between 1628, when the grand vessel Batavia sets out on her maiden voyage, and 1989.
I adored the rich detail as I followed Mayken on her voyage on the doomed Batavia from Holland en route to meet her unknown father in the land of spices. Plucky and empathetic, she befriends both the wealthy and the lowliest of the crew as she roams the ship, from deep in the claustrophobic bowels to high up on the mast with her ancient sailor friend.
In stark contrast is young Gil, friendless and alienated on a bleak fishing island off Western Australia where he’s been sent to live with his grandfather after the death of his beloved mother. He learns the bizarre story of the wreck from scientists on the island. Gil is regarded as weird by the islanders, and finds himself not only an outsider, but increasingly in danger.
There’s an almost magical connection between him and Mayken, as they seem to communicate through time, and their lives play out almost in parallel.
Based on the true story of the wreck of the Batavia, the 17th century part of this book is a delight of detail about the hazardous journey from Holland. A risky undertaking anyway, the journey was also marred by hatred between the dual commanders, and whispers of mutiny.
I adored the historical aspect to this book, as well as the folklore, superstition and magical realism. I admired Mayken and felt increasingly devastated for Gil. This book inspired me to go and read up on the Batavia. It will stay with me.