The Night Ship

The Night Ship is the fourth adult novel by award-winning London-born author, Jess Kidd. In 1628, following the death of her mother, nine-year-old Mayken van den Heuvel is on the ship Batavia, en route to her father's marble mansion with its gold plates, legion of servants and magnificent stallions, in Batavia. She's accompanied by her nursemaid, Imke whose health deteriorates during the journey, allowing Mayken to somewhat regulate her own activities.

Mayken keeps her own ship's log and does her regular patrols. Aware she must stay aft-the-mast, she still manages to access forbidden areas: Below Deck and even The Hold, by virtue of a disguise that allows her to become cabin boy Obbe.

Mayken meets all sorts of people that, as a rich merchant's daughter, she would normally never encounter: Smoert, the kitchen boy, Aris Jansz, the barber-surgeon, Pauwels Barentsz, whom she calls Holdfast, a sailor, and John Pinten, an English Soldier. She also learns of the ancient monster that resides in the hold, the eel-like Bullebak, whose bite, she is certain, had made Imke ill.

Mayken is also aware of various enmities between those in power: the captain, the upper-merchant, the under-merchant and a fearsome soldier knows as Stonecutter. Trial and error teaches her whom not to trust, proven in no uncertain terms when the ship eventually founders on reef off the western coast of the great south land.

In 1989, following the death of his mother, nine-year-old Gil Hurley is on the ferry to Beacon, one of the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, where is grandfather, Joss Hurley holds a cray-fishing lease. Joss seems to be a taciturn loner, unpopular with the rest of the islanders and, after one unsuccessful outing on his boat, leaves Gil to wander the island on his own while he checks his pots.

Gil explores, meets Silvia Zanetti, the wife of Joss's great rival, Birgit, one of the scientists diving the Batavia wreck, and Joss's new deckie, Dutch, who comes with a gift, a tortoise that Gil names Enkido. He also comes across The Raggedy Tree, apparently a shrine to Little May, one of the survivors of the Batavia sinking.

The product of an unconventional upbringing, Gil is dealing with grief and guilt, but is mystified by the feud between his grandfather and certain islanders, the origin of which he only learns much later. He is also fascinated by the story of the Batavia, although he doesn't believe in ghosts, or that Little May haunts the island. The Bunyip, though….

Alternating chapters carry the dual timeline narrative, in which there are dozens of echoes three centuries apart: the thoughts, words and deeds of nine-year-olds whose mothers died in circumstances not mentioned in polite company, as well as a good luck charm, cross-dressing, betrayals, stories of water-dwelling monsters, and people with mysteriously missing fingertips. The depth of Kidd's extensive research is apparent on every page, and she captures the feel of both her settings and eras with consummate ease.

Kidd's descriptive prose, as usual, is often gorgeous, evocative, and a pleasure to roll off the tongue: "Bad dreams come like beetles, crowding and clicking, overturning one another, scrabbling." She gives her characters words of wisdom and insightful observations: "The world can think you're all wrong if there's one person who thinks you're just right." Brilliant historical fiction.

This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Canongate.