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The Night Ship

Jess Kidd

Start date: November 1, 2022

Finish date: November 30, 2022

Discussion: Book Discussions

Why we're reading this: Moderator Recommends poll winner for November 2022.
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Jul 19, 2022 Carolyn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley-2022, 2022, netgalley, historical, based-on-a-true-story

Jess Kidd’s latest novel is based on the shipwreck of the Dutch trading ship the Batavia in 1629 in the Abrohlos Islands off the coast of Western Australia. She was the pride of the Dutch East India company, on her maiden voyage to the East Indies as flagship of a fleet of eight vessels. Sailing from the Dutch port of Texel she was carrying a cargo of silver coins and 341 people including crew, soldiers and passengers.

They say that fact is stranger than fiction and story of the shipwreck of the Jess Kidd’s latest novel is based on the shipwreck of the Dutch trading ship the Batavia in 1629 in the Abrohlos Islands off the coast of Western Australia. She was the pride of the Dutch East India company, on her maiden voyage to the East Indies as flagship of a fleet of eight vessels. Sailing from the Dutch port of Texel she was carrying a cargo of silver coins and 341 people including crew, soldiers and passengers.

They say that fact is stranger than fiction and story of the shipwreck of the Batavia and what followed afterwards is certainly extraordinary. Jess Kidd adds her own tough of magic to the tale by reimagining the journey through the eyes of Mayken, a nine year old girl, transporting us into the deprivation of living cooped up in a small, cramped ship for eight months followed by the horrific brutality that occurred following the shipwreck.

Mirroring Mayken’s life on the Batavia in many ways is that of another nine year old, Gil in 1989. Both children have recently lost their mothers and while Mayken is being taken by her nursemaid to her father in the East Indies, Gil is sent to live with his grandfather, a cray fisherman on the Abrohlos. Both are unusual children with active imaginations and have imaginary monsters lurking nearby. In Gil’s case it is the Bunyip, luring children into its waterhole and in Mayken’s case it is the Bullebak who she believes lives in the bottom of the ship. However, neither is yet aware that there are real monsters even closer who mean them real harm.

This is an excellent retelling of this historical event, meticulously researched and imagined through the eyes of a spirited child and infused with a little of Kidd’s magical realism. The two children are beautifully rendered and it’s hard not to feel a connection with both of them and feel for the heartbreaking trials they will each live through. Although I previously knew the story of the Batavia, having visited the excellent exhibit in the Shipwreck Museum in Fremantle, I still found it a haunting tale, wonderfully told, that will linger in my thoughts for a while.

With thanks to Canongate via Netgalley for a copy to read
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Mar 26, 2023 Chris James added it · review of another edition

To be honest, I'm still a bit stunned, even several days after having read The Night Ship. There was a lot of depth carried in those very brief, but well placed, words.

I liked the parallel stories of Gil and Maykin; I only wish that we had gotten to know them a bit more before they became so damaged. My heart broke for both of them. Though there were few adults in either timeline that were likeable, they were all understandable; and they all stayed true to their nature.

Kidd's writing style is m ...more

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