Based on a true story, an epic historical novel from the award-winning
author of Things in Jars that illuminates the lives of two characters:
a girl shipwrecked on an island off Western Australia and, three hundred
years later, a boy finding a home with his grandfather on the very same
island.
1629: A newly orphaned young girl named Mayken is bound for the Dutch
East Indies on the Batavia, one of the greatest ships of the Dutch
Golden Age. Curious and mischievous, Mayken spends the long journey
going on misadventures above and below the deck, searching for a
mythical monster. But the true monsters might be closer than she thinks.
1989: A lonely boy named Gil is sent to live off the coast of Western
Australia among the seasonal fishing community where his late mother
once resided. There, on the tiny reef-shrouded island, he discovers the
story of an infamous shipwreck...
With her trademark "thrilling, mysterious, twisted, but more than
anything, beautifully written" (Graham Norton, New York Times
bestselling author) storytelling, Jess Kidd weaves "a true work of
magic" (V.E. Schwab, author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue)
about friendship, sacrifice, brutality, and forgiveness.
