The Night Ship

By: Jess Kidd

Narrated by: Fleur De Wit, Adam Fitzgerald

A BBC Two Between the Covers book club pick 1629.

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 teenager 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 cruelty, fate and friendship, and of two children, hundreds of years apart, whose fates are inextricably bound together.

©2022 Jess Kidd (P)2022 Canongate Books

Critic reviews

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)

Jess Kidd's stories are so magical, she should be a genre all to herself (JOANNA CANNON)

A masterclass in storytelling (KIRAN MILLWOOD HARGRAVE)