Vintage
The Whalebone Theatre: A Read with Jenna Pick
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NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER - A TODAY SHOW #ReadWithJenna BOOK CLUB PICK - A transporting, irresistible debut novel that takes its heroine, Cristabel Seagrave, from a theatre made of whalebones to covert operations during World War II--a story of love, family, bravery, lost innocence, and self-transformation.
"Absolute aces...Quinn's imagination and adventuresome spirit are a pleasure to behold." --The New York Times
"Utterly heartbreaking and joyous." --Jo Baker, author of Longbourn
One blustery night in 1928, a whale washes up on the shores of the English Channel. By law, it belongs to the King, but twelve-year-old orphan Cristabel Seagrave has other plans. She and the rest of the household--her sister, Flossie; her brother, Digby, long-awaited heir to Chilcombe manor; Maudie Kitcat, kitchen maid; Taras, visiting artist--build a theatre from the beast's skeletal rib cage. Within the Whalebone Theatre, Cristabel can escape her feckless stepparents and brisk governesses, and her imagination comes to life.
As Cristabel grows into a headstrong young woman, World War II rears its head. She and Digby become British secret agents on separate missions in Nazi-occupied France--a more dangerous kind of playacting, it turns out, and one that threatens to tear the family apart.
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Book Details
ISBN:
9780593467152
EAN:
9780593467152
Binding:
Paperback
Pages:
576
Authors:
Joanna Quinn
Publisher:
Vintage
Published Date: 2023-25-07
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This book is a treasure. Beautifully written. I found myself rereading paragraphs or sentences just for the incredible insight they held. I would read those same words out loud to whomever was near me. Treasure!
I adored The Whalebone Theater. Like Uncle Willoughby, you could say it vacillates between being “romantic, Shakespearean, or a farce.” But genre only describes the barest set dressing of its drama. It is electric. It is the magic of childhood & the horrors of war. Its characters rise and fall like the tide, like Leviathan surfacing from the deep. I cried, and laughed out loud. I highlighted entire chapters. The prose rings like whale song echoing beneath the waves, hauntingly beautiful and eerily divine.
A wonderful historical novel is set on the coast of England, spanning the times before, during, and after the Second World War, on an old estate that has slipped into near poverty between the wars. The children are left entirely to raise themselves and become adept at dramatic productions that bring people from far and wide to watch them perform. WWII violently interrupts their wild lives, but they go on to perform in new ways in defense of their country. A wonderfully intricate plot filled with eccentric characters I couldn't help but love.
Not at all what I had expected but so beautiful I could not stop reading. So many passages were so profoundly human and universal and so full of love. Great reminders that love is not always where you expect to find it but often where you need it.
I loved the depth of feelings she gives each character. I know them now. And I love them. An unforgettable read.
