Not every novel is launched to music – but The Ghost Ship by Kate Mosse has inspired a new single from folk duo The Bookshop Band.
The singer songwriters, now based in Wigtown but originally from Bath, have recorded 13 albums plus many singles, are celebrated internationally for writing and performing songs inspired by books.
Their new song, also called The Ghost Ship and described as “eerie pirate pop”, has been released to coincide with the publication of the novel – a tale of piracy, romance and revenge which begins aboard a mysterious vessel floating off the Barbary Coast in 1621.
Ben Please, who is one half of The Bookshop Band alongside Beth Porter, said: “We met Kate a number of years ago when we were performing at Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights in Bath and had written a couple of songs inspired by her collection of short ghost stories, The Mistletoe Bride.
“When we heard she was booked to appear at the Wigtown Book Festival later in the year we got in touch to ask what she was working on and were thrilled when she asked if we’d like to read an advance copy and write a song in time for its launch.
“She transported us to the high seas on board a 17th-century pirate ship and we returned, by the skin of our teeth, with a new pop number. The song is also called The Ghost Ship and we’re looking forward to playing it for her when she comes up.”
The programme for this year’s festival, which is from 22 September to 1 October, will be announced later this summer, and Kate is the first guest whose name has been revealed.
She said: “Since it’s my first time visiting Wigtown, I wanted to mark the occasion with something special and what better way than to have a brand new piece of music from the fabulous The Bookshop Band.
“Ben and Beth are amazing – so intuitive, so sympathetic to the tone of the novel – and I love the piece they have created. I also adore their description as ‘eerie pirate pop’ … they might just have invented a whole new genre!”
The third in The Joubert Family Chronicles – a quartet of historical adventure novels covering 300 years and a feud between two families, one Huguenot and one Catholic – The Ghost Ship can also be read as a standalone novel.
A sweeping and epic forbidden love story, ranging from Carcassonne and La Rochelle in France in 1610 to Amsterdam and the Canary Islands in the 1620s, it’s a thrilling adventure and buccaneering, love and revenge, stolen fortunes and hidden secrets on the High Seas. Most of all, it is a tale of defiant women in a man’s world.
Wigtown is Scotland’s National Book town and this year will see its 25th annual book festival.
Lee Randall, who is the festival’s guest programmer, said: “Few people have made such a positive impact upon the literary world, not only through her bestselling novels, but by relentlessly championing work produced by women. I’m excited that Kate’s able to join us this year to do two events, and I look forward to giving her a warm Wigtown welcome.”
Praise for The Ghost Ship by Kate Mosse
“Another meticulously researched and stunningly written novel by a much-loved and highly accomplished author. I adored it!” Santa Montefiore, bestselling author of An Italian Girl in Brooklyn.
“The Ghost Ship is utterly absorbing. I couldn’t put it down and fell in love with her two main characters, and felt bereft when it ended.” Louise Minchin.
“Appositely placed in the past – this compelling tale of women on a mission to be seen and heard is a tale for today. Page turning.” Helen Lederer.
