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A review by dorhastings
The Ghost Ship by Kate Mosse
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
How this book found its way onto my TBR: I read Mosse's story in Marple: Twelve New Mysteries and thus began my journey of The Burning Chambers/The Joubert Family Chronicles. I had thought this would be a trilogy, but having just completed the third book, I see there's room for at least one or two more books. There's some 200 years between the "current" events in this book and some teasers from the earlier books. And I thought I'd finished the series! This book came out in 2023, so I'm pretty caught up. I needed to return this book to the library ASAP, and I had the time to read the book, so I zoomed through it.
As with previous books in the series, the main focus is of course on the Reydon-Joubert family, particularly the Joubert women. We see some mention of Minou, her sister Alis, Alis's companion Cornelia, and Minou's daughter, Barnarda (who is unfortunately quite unpleasant). There is also mention of Minou's first daughter, Marta, but we learn quickly that she is no longer in the picture. This novel follows one particular character: Louise Reydon-Joubert, daughter of Marta and Louis Vidal. Louise was raised in Amsterdam by her grandparents and returned to France for her 25th birthday to receive an inheritance. We see Louise when she's 25 and then 10 years later, when she is 35. Being initially from Amsterdam, Louise has a love for boats and the sea, and she is close with Alis and Cornelia. With her inheritance, she purchases one of Cornelia's boats (the Old Moon) and, in a most unladylike fashion, actually wants to be on the ship. Louise's wealth protects her from most things, and unladylike is certainly a word she would embrace. Along the way, she meets Gilles Barenton (we never do learn Gillis's birth name, but that's by design, and who cares), who is 15 years her junior. She saves him from unpleasant circumstances, and he essentially becomes her aide.
This book takes place mostly on the high seas aboard the Old Moon. This is quite unlike the previous books, which bobbed between different characters frequently and focused greatly on religious wars in France, Holland, and Spain. There is still a flavor of that, but I appreciated a new setting and some distance from those events. It would make sense that there would be little mention of politics and the religious wars for Louise, who does not have much of a thought for religion anyway and is generally focused on her ship. The religious wars do return in the epilogue, when the perspective shifts to Suzanne Joubert, granddaughter of Florence, the daughter of Jean-Jacques Reydon-Joubert, the son of Minou and Piet Reydon-Joubert.
I'm interested to see where this goes, though I was, as other reviewers have said, thrown off by the lack of continuity of prologues. I was also disappointed to not learn more about Marta and Louis; it was hinted at, strongly, by the end, but then nothing came of it. I can't say I expect that Mosse will cross that T in the next book, because that was something that happened at the end of Book 2 and was not resolved in Book 3. I get the need to keep the suspense, but it's a lot to ask of readers who are trying to keep track of everything else. That said, this book was clearly about Louise and did not stray from her. I enjoyed the themes that involved Louise never putting aside her being a woman but choosing to dress as a man on her ship. I also appreciated how Mosse wrote Gillis with great care and attention to things like pronouns.
All of the characters seem well-rounded and independent of each other. Mosse has a really fantastic writing style, making sure to include appropriate terms but not getting so technical that she loses her readers. For as long as the book is, it's amazing that I just kept turning the pages, wanting to get into the next chapter, the next section of the book.
As with previous books in the series, the main focus is of course on the Reydon-Joubert family, particularly the Joubert women. We see some mention of Minou, her sister Alis, Alis's companion Cornelia, and Minou's daughter, Barnarda (who is unfortunately quite unpleasant). There is also mention of Minou's first daughter, Marta, but we learn quickly that she is no longer in the picture. This novel follows one particular character: Louise Reydon-Joubert, daughter of Marta and Louis Vidal. Louise was raised in Amsterdam by her grandparents and returned to France for her 25th birthday to receive an inheritance. We see Louise when she's 25 and then 10 years later, when she is 35. Being initially from Amsterdam, Louise has a love for boats and the sea, and she is close with Alis and Cornelia. With her inheritance, she purchases one of Cornelia's boats (the Old Moon) and, in a most unladylike fashion, actually wants to be on the ship. Louise's wealth protects her from most things, and unladylike is certainly a word she would embrace. Along the way, she meets Gilles Barenton (we never do learn Gillis's birth name, but that's by design, and who cares), who is 15 years her junior. She saves him from unpleasant circumstances, and he essentially becomes her aide.
This book takes place mostly on the high seas aboard the Old Moon. This is quite unlike the previous books, which bobbed between different characters frequently and focused greatly on religious wars in France, Holland, and Spain. There is still a flavor of that, but I appreciated a new setting and some distance from those events. It would make sense that there would be little mention of politics and the religious wars for Louise, who does not have much of a thought for religion anyway and is generally focused on her ship. The religious wars do return in the epilogue, when the perspective shifts to Suzanne Joubert, granddaughter of Florence, the daughter of Jean-Jacques Reydon-Joubert, the son of Minou and Piet Reydon-Joubert.
I'm interested to see where this goes, though I was, as other reviewers have said, thrown off by the lack of continuity of prologues. I was also disappointed to not learn more about Marta and Louis; it was hinted at, strongly, by the end, but then nothing came of it. I can't say I expect that Mosse will cross that T in the next book, because that was something that happened at the end of Book 2 and was not resolved in Book 3. I get the need to keep the suspense, but it's a lot to ask of readers who are trying to keep track of everything else. That said, this book was clearly about Louise and did not stray from her. I enjoyed the themes that involved Louise never putting aside her being a woman but choosing to dress as a man on her ship. I also appreciated how Mosse wrote Gillis with great care and attention to things like pronouns.
All of the characters seem well-rounded and independent of each other. Mosse has a really fantastic writing style, making sure to include appropriate terms but not getting so technical that she loses her readers. For as long as the book is, it's amazing that I just kept turning the pages, wanting to get into the next chapter, the next section of the book.