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.
Jess Kidd was brought up in London as part of a large family from County Mayo. She is the author of three acclaimed novels for adults, Himself, The Hoarder and Things in Jars, and a book for children, Everyday Magic. In 2017, Kidd won the Costa Short Story Award and in 2020 she was picked by The Times as one of the best emerging Irish writers.
@JessKiddHerself | jesskidd.com
Title: The Night Ship
Author: Kidd, Jess
ISBN: 9781838856502
Binding:
Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd
Publication Date: 2022-08-11
Number of Pages: 384
Weight: 0.4901 kg
Lyrical, haunting, a beautiful and elegant fictional interpretation of history, I loved it -- KATE MOSSE
Majestic . . . Kidd packs the story with superb characters, high emotion and drama . . . this gripping story ebbs and bobs with surprises from Kidd's sparkling imagination * * Independent * *
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
[A] consistently gripping and impressively constructed novel . . . Kidd builds an immersive visual and olfactory world of the 17th century ship . . . since her first novel Himself [Kidd] has displayed a voracious talent for storytelling . . . [a] marvellous, spirited novel * * Financial Times * *
Gripping . . . The Night Ship is immersive, vivid and immediate, teeming with sensory detail that could only have come from extensive and diligent research and told in beautifully assured prose * * Irish Times * *
Kidd's writing is beautiful, a seemingly effortless layering of small details to create a vivid sense of place and geography . . . wonderful . . . memorable * * Sunday Independent * *
Jess Kidd is a wonderful writer and this dazzling new novel is breathtaking in its imaginative reach -- DAVID PARK
Rich with historical detail and full of intrigue . . . told in alternating chapters and with increasing, absorbing urgency as the novel reaches its climax . . . deeply moving * * Apple Books, Books of the Month * *
An intricate collage of folklore, modern gothic, ghost story, historical caper and magical realism * * Observer * *
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