Right when Louise finally starts coming into her own as a character and taking charge of her own life, we get a prologue of another character who is trying to find her many years later as she vanished off the face of the earth. While a lot of this information is necessary to understand what the world looked like at the time, and to provide information about the ships that are such a central part of the story, it at times messed with the flow of the story. This book also is heavily influenced by the Tarot cards the early French cards I read the Tarot which made this special for me.

There’s enough excitement and action with a bit of subterfuge to keep me interested, but it took longer than it should to reconnect with all the characters and situations. I didn’t want to use the word swashbuckling, but you can’t not when your imagination runs wild, images of ships on the big seas battling it out to come out victorious. Her passion for France and its history just bleeds from each and every page, and never fails to completely suck me into the past.A] dramatic, immersive tale of secrets, conspiracies, fanaticism and loss -- Daily Mail on The City of Tears --This text refers to the hardcover edition. They were a formidable team as they waged battle against pirates freeing their human cargo destined for slavery. Once I finished reading the novel I googled Anne Bonney and Mary Read and it was only then that I realised how much Kate Mosse was inspired by these two defiant real-life women who refused to bow down to the hypocrisy of the patriarchal social norms.

Then King Henri of Navarre is assassinated and they are forced to flee Paris before there is a recurrence of violence against Huguenots like themselves. Yes, she was strong, brave, but Mosse didn’t let Louise lose her femininity, a sense of vulnerability, the occasional lapse in confidence. The Ghost Ship is sad, glorious, terrifying and wonderful — a must read if you enjoy historical fiction. I am not a sailor (but my oldest son is, so I used him quite a bit for reference), but I am a history buff, and this story combines both effortlessly. That said, the period and setting is vividly brought to life as you would expect from this author and I'm still a fan.

And the plot is an immersive, fascinating tale of life, loss, love, bravery, survival, tragedy, romance, adventure, religion, politics, war, gender fluidity, sacrifice, revenge, the roles of women in 17th century Europe, and the ins and outs of living on a ship. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site.

A gorgeously written, utterly absorbing epic and, despite being set in the sixteenth century, has some very pertinent messages for our time about the evils of religious persecution and the transcendent power of love and family. Having lost both of her parents earlier, she is about to become very wealthy when she comes of age and accepts her inheritance.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. Louise decides to follow her dream of sailing, and after 10 years’ time, she is the “secret” owner of a cargo ship where she’s hosting the farewell dinner party for the retiring captain; wherein she meets Gilles, a wine merchant's apprentice.

Privileged to have been granted the gift of reading this 1600 saga of survival as a female with skills and knowledge to oversee a ship in treacherous times. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. Fiction includes the multimillion-selling Languedoc Trilogy ( Labyrinth , Sepulchre , Citadel ), The Joubert Family Chronicles ( The Burning Chambers , The City of Tears , The Ghost Ship ), and number one bestselling Gothic fiction including The Taxidermist’s Daughter .Santa Montefiore, bestselling author of An Italian Girl in Brooklyn The Ghost Ship is utterly absorbing. It shows another bad side to slaves the taboo side that nobody talks about the Italy, France, Dutch white slaves torched viable filth and urinal shit and blood disgusting side. It concerns previous protagonist Minou’s granddaughter Louise who had an inherent love for and affinity with the sea. 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. Fiction includes the multimillion-selling Languedoc Trilogy, the Joubert Family Chronicles (the number one bestseller The Burning Chambers , The City of Tears , and The Ghost Ship ), and number one bestselling Gothic fiction.