The Ghost Ship by Kate Mosse
The Ghost Ship is the third instalment in the Joubert Family Chronicles series and the attention shifts to Louise Reydon-Joubert who was raised by her grandparents, Piet and Minou, after the death of her parents. Louise hasn’t been told much about what happened to her parents but she knows she is to inherit a large sum of money on her twenty-fifth birthday. However, then that time arrives, Louise is dismayed when a claim is received from someone claiming to be her half-brother. Before Louise can discover any more information, her beloved grandmother announces she is terminally ill and the family return to Carcassonne where she spends her final days.
After the death of both of her grandparents, Louise returns to Amsterdam to visit her great-aunt, Alis, and her companion, Cornelia, who still run a shipping company. Louise has been fascinated by ships her whole and her inheritance allows her to buy the Old Moon, a merchant ship, but women are not allowed to captain their own ships so she has to settle for being the owner while others experience the adventures. However, things change when Louise meets Gilles Barenton, a young man with an abusive mother who has duped her brother into naming Gilles as his heir. When tragedy strikes, Gilles seeks refuge with Louise and they become close despite their fifteen year age gap.
Louise and Gilles are eventually forced into fleeing Amsterdam on the Old Moon but Louise finds herself fending off the captain’s unwanted advances. The captain proves to be a bully and when he is found dead, Louise must assume control of the ship and convince the other sailors that she can do the job. Louise also discovers that Gilles has a big secret of his own and they have to conceal their unconventional relationship from the rest of the crew as it would be dangerous for them.
Unfortunately, The Ghost Ship was not up to the same standard as the previous two books and I was little disappointed. While Louise inherits the Vidal fortune, her fellow claimant is almost forgotten about until near the end of the book so the Joubert/Vidal rivalry barely features despite the hints Louise’s half-brother is not as nice as he seems. The story jumps forward sixty odd years and we finally have a Joubert landing in South Africa to set up the final book in the series. I just feel this should have been more central to the storyline than what we actually got.
While Louise is an interesting character, she doesn’t set the page alight in the same way as her grandmother did and her battle against gender stereotyping was a bit weak. I also felt her relationship with Gilles did nothing to advance the storyline. Gilles’ secret is revealed very early on in the book but I’m going to let readers discover it for themselves.
The history regarding the shipping routes and the acts of piracy around certain parts of Europe has obviously been very well researched as you would expect from Kate Mosse but it just failed to engage. There is a lot to unpack here with rivalry companies and the battle for certain trade deals, the abhorrence of the slave trade and pirate raids on communities. Yet, none are really fleshed out. This book just doesn’t feel like it belongs with the previous two and could have easily been skipped.
