The story of the good ship Batavia has inspired books, movies, documentaries and even podcasts, but it is a nightmarish tale. When that wooden sailing ship, on her 1628 maiden voyage from the Netherlands to Indonesia (Dutch East Indies in those days), ran onto rocks off the west of Australia, it carried more than 300 people. The reign of murderous terror that eventuated for the survivors of the shipwreck, while more than 40 sailed north to seek help, is the stuff of history.
Kidd was fascinated by the story and in her research for this novel she not only sought material in the Netherlands, but was able to travel to the isolated Abrolhos Islands, off the WA coast, where the shipwreck survivors had sought refuge and where many were killed.
To personalise the story, Kidd tells the stories of two children, 300 years apart. One is Mayken, on board the Batavia with her nursemaid to join her father in the Dutch East Indies after the death of her mother. The other is Gil, also mourning his mother’s death, and sent in 1989 to live with his fisherman grandfather on one of the Abrolhos Islands, where the killings had taken place in 1629.
Each child is brave, resourceful and curious, traits that did not endear them to all their shipmates (in Mayken’s case) or the close-knit fishing community on Batavia’s Graveyard, now known as Beacon Island (in Gil’s case).
Kidd has fleshed out superbly the story of the voyage and shipwreck, melding factual and fictional characters; as well as drawing a close portrait of the 1980s fishing community on Beacon, since 2014 an uninhabited, designated archaeological site. The characters of each child leap off the page, and they lodged firmly in my heart, along with Gil’s tortoise, Enkidu.
Reviewed by Jennifer Somerville
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jess Kidd was brought up in London as part of a large family from county Mayo and has been praised for her unique fictional voice. Her debut, Himself, was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards in 2016, the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award 2017 and longlisted for the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger 2017.
Jess won the 2016 Costa Short Story Award. Her second novel, The Hoarder, also titled Mr. Flood’s Last Resort (U.S.), was shortlisted for the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year 2019 and longlisted for the 2020 International Dublin Literary Award.
Her third book, the Victorian detective tale Things in Jars, was released to critical acclaim. Jess’s first book for children, Everyday Magic, was published 2021. Jess’s fourth novel for adults, The Night Ship, was released in July 2022. Jess is currently developing her own original TV projects with leading UK and international TV producers.
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