The Whalebone Theatre: A Read with Jenna Pick

by Joanna Quinn

Book Overview

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.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0593321707
• ISBN13: 9780593321706
• Release Date: October 2022
• Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
• Length: 576 Pages
• Weight: 2.02 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Great story

At first I wasn’t sure I was going to like this book but soon enough found myself captivated by this debut novel by Joanna Quinn. It’s both joyous and sad, heartwarming and heartbreaking, but never dull.