This historical novel interweaves the stories of a pair of troubled children born three centuries apart, based on the real-life seventeenth-century Batavia mutiny.

1629. Embarking on a journey in search of her father, a young girl called Mayken boards the Batavia. During the long voyage, she must find her place in the ship's world, and she soon uncovers secrets above and below deck. As tensions spiral, the fate of the ship and all on board becomes increasingly uncertain.

1989. Gil, a boy mourning the death of his mother, is placed in the care of his grandfather. Their home is a shack on a tiny fishing island off the Australian coast, notable for its reefs and wrecked boats. Gil's actions soon get him noticed by the wrong people.

The Night Ship is a story of human cruelty, fate and friendship, and of two children, hundreds of years apart, whose fates are inextricably bound together.