The Ghost Ship by Kate Mosse
The Barbary Coast, 1621.
A mysterious vessel silently rides the swell. She is known only as the Ghost Ship. For these past months, her crew has fought to liberate those enslaved by corsairs. But the two bravest mariners on board are not who they seem. And the stakes could not be higher: if captured, they will be hanged for their alleged crimes…
About the author
The Ghost Ship is the third novel in the Number One bestselling series The Joubert Family Chronicles, following The Burning Chambers and The City of Tears, which have together sold more than 400,000 copies. The Founder of the Women’s Prize for Fiction and recently launched Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction, Mosse is an award-winning novelist, playwright, essayist and non-fiction writer. Her most recent feminist non-fiction book, Warrior Queens and Quiet Revolutionaries: How Women (Also) Built the World (October 2022), is now the basis for a one-woman theatre show, touring UK venues from 28 February-12 April 2023, in which Mosse will celebrate the lives of extraordinary, brilliant, trail-blazing and heroic women from throughout history whose names deserve to be better known.
Review
‘The Ghost Ship’ is an evocative read that sweeps you along with its rich historical details and beautiful writing. This is the third book in the ‘Burning Chambers’ series that follows the Reydon-Joubert family but it absolutely can be read as a stand-alone story. I have been a huge fan of Kate Mosse’s books and this was a welcome return to the series. It did not disappoint!
The Barbary Coast 1621, a mysterious vessel floats silently on the water. It is only known as the Ghost Ship and for months it has hunted down pirate ships to liberate the slaves taken by the corsairs. Manned by a courageous crew it is a society in itself and doesn't hold to the same rigid societal expectations. A sweeping story that starts in 1610 Paris, to Amsterdam, La Rochelle and the Canaries. The Ghost Ship is a tale of piracy, adventure and buccaneering and a sweeping tale of love…
The main protagonist is Louise Reydon-Joubert and the book opens just as she is receiving her inheritance from her father. This is a day she has longed for as she wants her independence and live life on her terms. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about her adventures and was swept away in the love story with Gilles. I will be honest I hadn't read the blurb before picking this book up as you know you are guaranteed a brilliant read from Kate Mosse but this wasn't what I was expecting at all! It was so much more… I loved the history behind the early female pirates and learning more about this era! Kate has the ability to drop historical nuggets into the prose without you noticing or becoming bogged down in overly descriptive terms. It makes the chapters and narrative flow easily and gives an authentic feel to the book.
This was a real page-turner and I devoured it in a few days! I thoroughly recommend this one. Let me know if you pick it up.
