The Whalebone Theatre: A Read with Jenna Pick -- Joanna Quinn, Hardcover

A transporting, irresistible debut novel that takes its heroine, Cristabel Seagrave, from a theatre in the gargantuan cavity of a beached whale into undercover operations during World War II--a story of love, family, bravery, lost innocence, and self-transformation.

"The Whalebone Theatre is absolute aces. . . . Quinn's imagination and adventuresome spirit are a pleasure to behold." --The New York Times

"Utterly heartbreaking and joyous . . . I just disappeared into The Whalebone Theatre and didn't want to leave." --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.

Author: Joanna Quinn
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
Published: 10/04/2022
Pages: 576
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.93lbs
Size: 9.49h x 6.55w x 1.37d
ISBN: 9780593321706

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal Prepub Alert 05/01/2022 pg. 1
Kirkus Reviews 08/01/2022
Publishers Weekly 08/29/2022