Spend an evening with Costa Award-winning author Jess Kidd as she marks the publication of The Night Ship, an imaginative historical epic of shipwreck, mutiny, fate and friendship

1629. A curious and bold young girl called Mayken boards the Batavia, the most impressive sea vessel of the age. During the long voyage, Mayken 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.

Some secrets won’t stay buried forever, and Mayken and Gil, two outsiders whose fates are inextricably intertwined, must save each other before it’s too late.

In conversation for this virtual event, Jess will consider the inspiration behind her new novel, which is based on the true story of one of the worst disasters in maritime history. She’ll also detail how her extensive research for the book took her from a shipyard in the Netherlands to the windswept islands off Western Australia, the Batavia’s final resting place, and will reveal some extraordinary facts of the Batavia that are stranger than fiction…

The ambition and execution of [Jess Kidd's] new book The Night Ship is breathtaking! Sweet and grim, epic and domestic – I loved it . . . readers are in for a treat’ Graham Norton