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The Night Ship

Jess Kidd

Start date: November 1, 2022

Finish date: November 30, 2022

Discussion: Book Discussions

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What Members Thought

Jul 19, 2022 Carolyn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley, historical, 2022, netgalley-2022, favourite-books, 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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82 likes · Like · see review

Aug 05, 2022 Lauren coffeebooksandescape rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: retelling-or-fairytale, gifted-from-publisher, historical-fiction, mental-health, book-tours

“Lying brings bad karma. Even a small lie can make something really bad happen and the karma will grow to match it.”

✮ ✮ ✮ 1/2

*** anything 3 star and above is still a positive review. I consider a three star review to be more of a positive-neutral review.

Jess Kidd based this book on the real life Batavia wreckage in 1629. I have never personally read about this historic event before but Jess Kidd portrays the pure barbaric behaviour and brutality surrounding the survivors of the shipwreck, and tu ...more

40 likes · Like · see review

Dec 19, 2022 Joy D rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, oceania, reviewed, xauor, zzck, maritime, journeys

I had previously read and enjoyed Jess Kidd’s Himself, so I thought I’d try another. The Night Ship is based on a real event that occurred in 1628, the sinking of the Dutch ship Batavia near an island off the coast of western Australia. The historical people are part of the narrative, and the story is told by fictional nine-year-old girl, Mayken. There is a second timeline, set in 1989, where we find a nine-year-old boy, Gil, visiting his grandfather, who lives on the same island.

I have mixed f ...more

7 likes · Like · see review