Next in the #1 Sunday Times bestselling series, New York Times bestselling author Kate Mosse returns with The Ghost Ship, a sweeping historical epic of adventure on the high seas.
The Barbary Coast, 1621. A mysterious vessel floats silently on the water. It is known only as the Ghost Ship. For months it has hunted pirates to liberate those enslaved by corsairs, manned by a courageous crew of mariners from Italy and France, Holland and the Canary Islands.
But the bravest men on board are not who they seem. And the stakes could not be higher. If arrested, they will be hanged for their crimes. Can they survive the journey and escape their fate?
A sweeping and epic love story, ranging from France in 1610 to Amsterdam and the Canary Islands in the 1620s, The Ghost Ship is a thrilling novel of adventure and buccaneering, love and revenge, stolen fortunes and hidden secrets on the high seas.
KATE MOSSE, CBE, is a multiple New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author with sales of more than eight million copies in thirty-eight languages. Her previous novels include Labyrinth, Sepulchre, The Winter Ghosts, Citadel, The Taxidermist’s Daughter, and The Burning Chambers. Kate is the founder director of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, a visiting professor at the University of Chichester, and in June 2013, was awarded an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to literature. She divides her time between Chichester in the United Kingdom and Carcassonne in France.
My thoughts: this is the third installment of The Joubert Family Chronicles, but I think it could be read as a standalone too. Louise’s story is inspired by the real life female pirates like Anne Bonny and Mary Read, women who took on male roles, who did things they weren’t expected to.
After coming into her inheritance Louise buys a merchant ship, and during a voyage from Amsterdam to the Canary Islands her experiences and the stories of the crew make her want to make a difference. She’s also drawn to a young man, Gilles, who she’s taken under her wing. But like Louise, Gilles is not exactly what he seems.
They become pirates of a sort, stealing not treasure but saving lives – hunting down slave ships and freeing the captives, encouraging them to take over the ships they’re held on.
It’s both an adventure and a romance, Louise and Gilles are both incredibly brave and resourceful, even when things seem incredibly bleak and hopeless, they have courage and faith in one another.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 