The Ghost Ship

The Ghost Ship is the third book in Kate Mosse's Joubert Huguenot Family Chronicles trilogy. It began with The City of Tears and The Burning Chambers. The Ghost Ship continues the story of Minou Joubert and Piet Reydon. While they have a prominent role in the current book the story is mainly about their granddaughter Louise Reydon-Joubert. The Ghost Ship is a hefty 476 page novel but it was so fascinating that I read it in one day.

The publisher's summary:

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.

This book is so incredibly lovely that I don't know where to start. The Ghost Ship has adventure, buccaneering, illicit love and lots of secrets. It most of all is a story of a defiant woman making her mark in a man's world. Our heroine Louise has always wanted to be the captain of a ship. When she turns twenty-five she receives an inheritance from her father and quickly buys a ship called Old Moon. Ten years later, she hosts a farewell dinner party for the Old Moon's retiring captain and meets Gilles, a wine merchant's apprentice. Louise and Gilles become fast friends and later begin a relationship. However, Gilles has a secret of his own. He is a she. 

While Louise hires another man to be her captain, she decides that she is going to travel with her ship to the Canary Islands. Fate steps in and Louise becomes the captain.  It is her commandeering of this ship that leads Louise to inquisitors in the Canaries, a Spanish and hence Catholic, island nation. With her family being well known Huguenots she is already a suspicious person to the inquisitors. However, some one on the ship has talked with them about her.

Louise’s quest to break society's rules had me scared for her throughout the novel. She was a tough lady but without her inheritance she would have probably married and bore children. Money gave her options. It was lovely to reconnect with her grandparents who we met in book two. Grandmother Minou is one of my favorite characters in the series and she has some of her own secrets that get exposed. We also find out what happened with her parents.  

Alot happened in this intricate plot. Author Mosse obviously did plenty of research into the Huguenots. She brought their travails to life. I also liked that she wrote a Preface before the story began telling the reader what was fact and fiction. It was nice that I didn't need to question facts as I read the book.

The Ghost Ship is a must read. 5 out of 5 stars.