The Night Ship

Mining the real-life seventeenth-century Batavia mutiny for page-turning drama and emotional insight, this scintillating historical novel from the author of Things in Jars interweaves the stories of a pair of troubled children born two centuries apart.

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.

'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, author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Praise for Jess Kidd:
'Kidd's imagination is a thing of wonder' - New York Times
'Jess Kidd's stories are so magical, she should be a genre all to herself' - Joanna Cannon
'Kidd has imagination to die for' - Guardian
'Kidd writes prose that is full to the brim with life' - Financial Times
'A masterclass in storytelling' - Kiran Millwood Hargrave
'A terrifically imaginative writer' - Sunday Express
'Kidd has a brilliant imagination and she's fearless in her use of it' - Spectator
'Kidd's writing is never less than surprising and original' - Irish Independent
'A writer with a poet's skill of balancing clarity and inventive flair' - Andrew Michael Hurley