Kate Mosse: The Ghost Ship - In conversation with Stephanie Merritt

Join international number one bestselling novelist, Kate Mosse as she returns to speak to Stephanie Merritt about the latest book in The Joubert Family Chronicles.

The Ghost Ship is a thrilling story of adventure and buccaneering, love and revenge, stolen fortunes and hidden secrets on the High Seas. Inspired by the real-life story of pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read, and follows the two defiant women in a man’s world.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kate Mosse is the author of ten novels & short story collections, including the No 1 bestselling The Joubert Family Chronicles – The Burning Chambers, The City of Tears and The Ghost Ship – as well as the multimillion selling Languedoc Trilogy - Labyrinth, Sepulchre and Citadel - and No 1 bestselling Gothic fiction including The Winter Ghosts and The Taxidermist's Daughter.

Her books have been translated into 38 languages and published in more than 40 countries. She has also written four works of non-fiction – including her memoir about caring An Extra Pair of Hands and Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries: How Women (Also) Built the World, which inspired her first one-woman show and theatre tour.

A champion of women's creativity, Kate is the Founder Director of the Women's Prizes - the largest annual celebration of women's writing in the world - and is the Founder of the global campaign #WomanInHistory launched in January 2021 to honour, celebrate and promote women’s achievements throughout history. She was awarded an OBE in 2013 for services to literature and women, was named Woman of the Year for her service to the arts in the Everywoman Awards and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. A regular guest on book & arts shows on radio and television, she also writes and presents documentaries. @katemosse

ABOUT THE HOST

Stephanie Merritt began reviewing books for national newspapers while she was reading English literature at Queens’ College, Cambridge and after graduating went on to become Deputy Literary Editor of the Observer in 1998. Her first novel, Gaveston, was published by Faber & Faber in 2002 and won a Betty Trask award. She followed this with a second novel, Real, for which she was commissioned to write the screenplay by Gabriel Byrne’s production company, Plurabelle Films. She then turned to non-fiction with a critically-acclaimed memoir, The Devil Within, which was shortlisted for the 2008 Mind Book Award.

She continues to work as a feature writer and critic for the Guardian and the Observer and from 2007-2008 she curated and produced the Talks and Debates programme on issues in contemporary arts and politics at London’s Soho Theatre. She has appeared as a panellist on various Radio 4 shows and on BBC2’s Newsnight Review, and is a regular chair and presenter at the Hay Festival and the National Theatre. She has been a judge for the Costa Biography Award, the Orange New Writing Award and the Perrier Comedy Award.

Stephanie’s most recent novel Alchemy comes out next month and is the highly-anticipated historical thriller in the Giordano Bruno series.

She lives in Surrey with her son. @thestephmerritt

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