I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by NetGalley. I was not compensated for this review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.
Daughters of the Wreckage by Stefanie Koens Published by Thomas Nelson Incorporated on September 15, 2026
Genres: Fiction / Action & Adventure, Fiction / Christian / Historical, Fiction / Christian / Romance / Historical, Fiction / Cultural Heritage, Fiction / Disaster, Fiction / Multiple Timelines, Fiction / Sea Stories, Fiction / World Literature / Australia
Pages: 368
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: NetGalley
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Two women. One shipwreck. And four centuries of secrets.
Shortly before Christmas in 2018, Tess McCarthy, after years as a hard-working English teacher who never did anything out of the ordinary, flies to Western Australia's remote Abrolhos Islands. She is in search of answers--both to the infamous Batavia shipwreck and her personal family crises.
In 1628, Saskia, an orphaned young Dutchwoman, boards Batavia with relatives, bound for a new and potentially dangerous life in the East Indies--only for her world to first collide with Aris Jansz, the ship's taciturn under surgeon.
Tess, Saskia, and Aris--their lives linked by secrets that span generations--carry the baggage of past losses and the uncertainty of their futures. And, in the most unlikely circumstances, they may find qualities that echo through centuries: faith, acceptance, and love.
A woman searching for answers in her own life finds them--and much more--in the wreckage and haunting stories of the Batavia shipwreck.
Previously published in Australia as Daughters of Batavia.
Raise your hand if you have ever heard of the Batavia? If you have even a finger up, you are ahead of me. During a period of time that, as an American, I never really learned about since it didn’t involve the US, the Dutch had a thriving trade route to the East Indies. Yup, not the West Indies that led to us, but near Australia. They had a thriving citadel there and built a rather large ship, also called the Batavia, that set sail as part of a flotilla, bringing soldiers, merchants, and family members to the citadel. It’s not necessarily a happy ending for everyone, and the chaos that the ship found itself in is both haunting and intriguing. While based on real events, this is a fictional account of the Batavia.
Knowing that I knew absolutely nothing about this ship, this citadel, this time period in history I went in full of hope and a bit of trepidation. I hate to say I fell in love because the story itself is very dark, but I was drawn into the history and the people. And then you have Tess in the present. Tess felt less engaging to me for a myriad of reasons, but I’ll share only a couple. First, I really don’t understand her motivation. I mean, I get her big picture, but there’s little things in her life, such as a lack of bond with her stepmother for no real shared reasons or her fears of things without any context. Tess’ story just felt disjointed for me and could have really added more depth to the overall story if motivations and rationale weren’t dropped. I wanted to like her honestly, but I just have some questionable apathy about who she is and why. And then there’s the romance with Drew. You get an idea that maybe they are both anti-relationship and fearful of a setup, but never told why. Then they get along, pull back, and suddenly, in less than a week, all the feels are there, and they are totally into each other, and then it’s spending the holidays together and meeting his family. Like, ladies and gentlemen, I know that you share a mutual person, but you don’t go from not wanting to be set up by this person to I only have eyes for you. That dears is not a romance thread I can get behind.
Now, the history, the history I can get behind. Yes, there are things there as well that I feel like could be fleshed out better, but I get it. There are things left to allow you to draw your own conclusions, and while it was a bit frustrating, I get it, and I actually came to appreciate it. The idea that you don’t have to be told everything to understand everything really settled in for me. But ya’ll, this history is dark. Shipwreck, mentally unstable psychopath declaring himself leader of a mutiny. There’s outright savagery from a ‘gentleman’, not a native, but one of their own. At times it felt so hard to read, but that’s what makes it so real. These things happen, maybe not exactly like this, but they happen whether it’s 1628 or 2027. And you see people that align themselves against their values to try to save themselves. Human nature hasn’t changed in almost 400 years. And while I don’t think this book set out to make you question what you would do in these circumstances, I did. While we all can say what we would do, what are our principles? Would you really, if faced with the question of principles vs. potential survival?
About Stefanie Koens
Stefanie Koens grew up in a large family in which books and story-telling were treasured. When her novel Daughters of Batavia was awarded the Banjo Prize in 2023, it was the fulfilment of a dream that began at the age of 12 when one of her short stories won a local writing competition.
Although she never lost her love for writing, Stefanie has worked as a teacher, tutor and office administrator.
Stefanie also loves history and is particularly fascinated by family stories, secrets and experiences that interweave past and present.
When she’s not writing, Stefanie loves spending time in the countryside and coast around her home in Perth, Western Australia, especially when this involves faith, family and friends. More often than not, Stefanie can be found absorbed in other writer’s stories.
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