The Ghost Ship: An Epic Historical Novel from the Number One Bestselling Author (The Joubert Family Chronicles)

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I so love Kate Mosse! She knows how to create realer than life characters that you grow to love like family. Louise is a highly likeable, measured and strong woman. I am unsure if I was as convinced by Gilles, a woman who has since a young girl needed to be seen as a boy, now grown up living as and dressing like a man. He is however a loyal, reserved, capable and intelligent person. Event: Cheltenham Literature Festival - in conversation with Emma O’Donoghue, chaired by Sarah Shaffi This is the third book in The Joubert Family Chronicles and is full of adventure that takes you to France, the Netherlands and The Canary Islands. You follow one of my new favourite female characters Louise Reydon Joubert who is awe-inspiring. She is brave, intelligent, loyal and reading about her transforming into such a powerful woman was pure joy. Her quest to break the rules and shatter the patriarchy had me cheering her on. This is the kind of female character I am here for! The loving relationship Louise developed with Gilles was very touching. Both of them have my heart.

That being said, this was an enjoyable read. Minou was wonderful to read about. The conflicts she faced in the present to protect her husband and granddaughter, along with the trauma of her past made for a sympathetic character. Louise also has her strengths in her independence and strength to pursue what she wants with little care for how she will be perceived. Her past being slowly revealed through current events triggering suppressed memories is interesting and adds tension to the story. Gilles and Louise fight the perception that society has of them, both displaying fascinating journeys that seem to end with accepting each other and building a life together. And in her family’s temporary lodgings in Place Dauphine, at the western end of the Île de la Cité, slept one who had not been invited. Louise Reydon-Joubert was dreaming of Amsterdam: the twenty-fourth day of April in the year 1596. Of deep waters and wide blue skies that promised adventure, of the glory of ocean-going ships. At the heart of it is a woman in a man’s world, trying to live her life as she sees fit without being beholden to men who have all the power. Another meticulously researched and stunningly written novel by a much-loved and highly accomplished author. I adored it! - Santa Montefiore, bestselling author of An Italian Girl in Brooklyn The Ghost Ship is utterly absorbing. I couldn’t put it down and fell in love with her two main characters, and felt bereft when it ended - Louise Minchin, BBC journalist, host of the Her Spirit podcast and author of Fearless Fifty Shades of Feminism (essay – edited by Lisa Appignanesi, Rachel Holmes & Susie Orbach, Virago, 2013)It is also the story of a secret romance that cannot be revealed to anyone: it just would not be accepted in the 1600s. Details: https://budlitfest.org.uk/event/santanu-bhattacharya-rachel-connolly-kaliane-bradley-hilary-mantel-emerging-writers-event/ Tuesday 26 September

Details: www.shorehamwordfest.com/event/fatal-shore-crime-writing-festival-hosted-by-elly-griffiths-and-william-shaw-23/ Kate Mosse’s writing is as beautiful and engrossing as ever and you really feel like you are there on breathtaking adventures with Louise and her crew. You can feel the wind in your hair, smell the salty seas and hear the roar of the waves so vividly creating such magnificent imagery. The historical research is meticulously done surrounding this fascinating time period. Overall it was too long and far too slow and tried to focus on several generations of women which made it very long-winded. A tighter focus would have made it a faster more interesting read witout losing any of the affection for the characters. The second main character is Gilles, a young man who was ‘rescued’ by Louise and taken under her wing. They become close. He has quite a secret. We learn of his difficult upbringing, and about his going to work for his uncle at a young age.Also the prologue/intro is repeated in full when it comes up as the start of the climax of the story which was a little odd. It's like the author expected her audience to either skip the intro or just forget somehow what happened.

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… I would definitely recommend The Ghost Ship to fans of Kate Moss and lovers of historical fiction. It helps if you have read the previous novels but it could just as easily be read as a stand alone novel. I’ve just got better as I’ve got older,” she tells me, “at leaning in to the disappointments or the failures, and letting myself feel sad about them, or a bit demoralised about them, and then drawing a line rather than trying to pretend that I don’t mind.”Louise Reydon-Joubert has come into her inheritance and is a wealthy woman. Now all she wants to do is to go to sea. Whilst in La Rochelle she meets Gilles Barenton and is immediately attracted to this young man, however Gilles hides a secret. Louise sails in her ship, The Old Moon, to Las Palmas but along the way the captain meets an unfortunate end, this is the opportunity Louise has craved.