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 IIa story of love, family, bravery, lost innocence, and self-transformation.

Absolute aces...Quinns 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 householdher sister, Flossie; her brother, Digby, long-awaited heir to Chilcombe manor; Maudie Kitcat, kitchen maid; Taras, visiting artistbuild a theatre from the beasts 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 Francea more dangerous kind of playacting, it turns out, and one that threatens to tear the family apart.

Reviews

A Best Book of the Year: New York Times Notable, Washington Post, Sydney Morning Herald, Vox, Book Riot, Geek Girl Authority A Best Gift Book: Seattle Times, Broadway Direct A TODAY SHOW #ReadWithJenna BOOK CLUB PICK, in collaboration with the Queen Consort Camillas Royal Reading Room

Gorgeous . . . Delightful . . . Absolute aces . . . Reading it is like plunging into a tub of clotted cream while (or whilst) enrobed in silk eau-de-Nil beach pajamas . . . Quinns imagination and adventuresome spirit are a pleasure to behold, boding more commanding work to come. TheNew York Times

Whats remarkable, especially for a first novel, is Quinns deft way of depicting this lost worldwhether a subsiding seaside aristocracy or a training school for British agents or a Parisian theater in wartime . . . Her vision is so fine and fully realized that its hard to imagine her doing anything elseand hard to have to wait to see what that might be. Washington Post

An immersive, capacious delight . . . The pages fly by . . . The Whalebone Theatre is a supremely accomplished feat of storytelling. . . Quinn excels with the nuts and bolts of her craftcharacterization, pace, plotting, and well-calibrated humor and suspenseand brilliantly depicts the rugged beauty of her county on the crumbling bottom edge of England.' Minneapolis Star Tribune

The story is just as imaginative as its protagonist, involving spycraft, World War II, and Dickensian children carving wondrous worlds out of the mundane.
Seattle Times (Bookseller Approved Giftable Books)

This is a book that will be loved unreasonably and life-long, I believe, like I Capture The Castle. Francis Spufford, author of Light Perpetual

Honestly, I want to sound a trumpet and put out some flags. It is pure heaven from first word to last. Its a debut novel, incredibly for something so assured and fully realised . . . Generous, filling, deeply satisfying funny-sad, every page crammed with life and experience . . . The Whalebone Theatre is one of those books that has you hooting with laughter one minute and feeling absolutely floored the next . . . Quinn is one of those writers who has her finger on humanitys pulse. An absolute treat of a book, to be read and reread. The Sunday Times (London)

The Whalebone Theatre has all the makings of a classic. And Cristabel Seagrave is the most gratifying hero. The war scenes often left me breathless: they are as good as you will ever read . . . A tour de force. Sarah Winman, author of Still Life

In an astonishing debut, Quinn creates an enchanting world and a cast of thoroughly endearing characters whom readers will be sorry to leave behind . . . A genre-bending delight. Booklist (starred)

Destined to become a classic. . .Elegantly writtenandtotally immersive, this is escapism fiction at its very best . . . Quinns debut is awonder. Daily Mail

The Whalebone Theatre gives you wings . . . Slightly alarmingly, it is Joanna Quinns debuthow on earth is she this good . . . Full of brilliant set pieces that pop and crackle with tension . . . Quinn handles her sprawling cast with ease and compassion . . . Reading contemporary fiction is rarely that fun . . . Just dive in and slurp it up. The Times (London)

Quinn has a sublime touch: Cristabel and her troupe are unforgettable, as riotous in comedy as they are heart-breaking in tragedy. Frances Liardet, author of We Must Be Brave

My ideal novel . . . Quinn creates a worldso rich with observation, detail, humanity, and heartthat you are incapable of doing anything butdrinking it in with greedy delight. YOU magazine

Its astonishing to discover that this beguiling story is Joanna Quinns first novel . . . If you loved Elizabeth Jane Howards Cazalet series and Dodie Smiths I Capture the Castle youll absolutely adore this. Its touching, enthralling, and superbly writtenan extraordinary book that deserves to be read and re-read. Independent, #1 Best Overall of 10 Best Books to Read This Summer

Far and away my favourite novel of the year . . . Its a gorgeous book, following the lives of three half-siblings from the 20s and through World War II, the same canvas Kate Atkinson has used to such great effect. Love, grief, and comedy in perfect balance: its hard to believe that this accomplished novel comes from a first-timer.
Sydney Morning Herald

Just absolutely wonderful . . . It is so doggone readable, and you really care about these characters . . . The book just really keeps you reading.
Public Radio Tulsa

I wasswept awayby thiscompelling,beautifully writtendebut and itsplucky heroine. Good Housekeeping

Dazzling and imaginative . . . Peacetime whimsy gracefully segues into scenes of unbearable tension and heart-wrenching suspense . . . Combining elements of I Capture the Castle, Brideshead Revisited, and Charlotte Gray, this is a reading experience to be long cherished. Publishers Weekly (starred)

Utterly heartbreaking and joyous . . . I just disappeared into The Whalebone Theatre and didnt want to leave. Jo Baker, author of Longbourn

Playful, inventive, sharp, funny, The Whalebone Theatre offers the sort of reading experience that is remarkably rare, even for those of us whose happiest hours are spent with books: sheer, undiluted delight from start to finish . . . It breathes fresh, bracing air into the lungs of the multi-generational sagaand the very form of the novel itself . . . Most importantly of all, perhaps, Quinn gives us Cristabel, the sort of intelligent heroine that has been sorely missing from every other classic since Middlemarch . . . Its impossible not to be charmed by this book. Susan Elderkin, author of Voices

Magnificent. As capacious, surprising and magical as the whale that lends its bones to Cristabels theatre: a tale of intertwined lives and braided fates as deftly managed and heartbreaking as a Dickens novel. Rebecca Stott, author of Ghostwalk

Utterly captivating. An epic romp with characters you cannot help but fall in love with and a plot that takes you in all sorts of unexpected directions. Written with great heart, humour and humanity, its the kind of book you want to escape normal life to read at every available opportunity. Elizabeth Day, author of The Party

Author Bio

JOANNA QUINN was born in London and grew up in Dorset, in the southwest of England, where her debut novel, The Whalebone Theatre, is set. She has worked in journalism and the charity sector. She is also a short story writer, published by The White Review and Comma Press, among others. She lives in a village near the sea in Dorset.