Joanna Quinn’s The Whalebone Theatre is the story of Cristabel Seagrave who, along with others, builds a theatre from the bones of a whale that has washed up on the shore. Later in life during WWII, Cristabel becomes a secret agent. I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this well-written, creative book about love, family, bravery, and the loss of innocence. I look forward to Joanna Quinn’s next book.

this was a slow start but all of a sudden i got so into it, esp the various efforts in ww2. i liked the different perspectives during the war, particularly the home front and the importance of gardening etc. i could picture the house and the whalebone theatre and all the characters so well and it made me cry at the end

This is a very interesting debut novel. I loved how Cristabel’s imagination comes to life. Thanks for the review copy.

A new novel, I love the characters and the story, I enjoyed this book so much and I'm glad I have a new author to look forward to reading her next books.



Thank you, NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Knopf, for the advanced copy of The Whalebone Theatre in exchange for my honest review

I began but did not finish this book. I’m sorry to say it wasn’t a good fit for me and I decided to put it down and move onto something else. I read almost 100 pages before reaching any content resembling the description of the book, so I was quite confused and frustrated it took so long to get moving.

A coming of age story set during WW2. I found the book middle of the road good. It was good enough to keep reading. I wan't very connected to the characters and occasionally found my mind wandering. I enjoyed the beginning the most when they were children and preforming in the whale come theatre.

I think this book tried really hard to be profound, but it just didn’t work for me. It was also too long for the story it was telling. It was supposed to about World War 2, yet it took until page 225 to reach the year 1939. There was too much time spent on Cristabel’s childhood, but the issue was that so much time was given to her step-mother, father, and uncle. I couldn’t stand how shallow Rosalind was, and there was a lot of backstory that just wasn’t needed to know who Cristabel was.

I did like reading from the perspective of the British during World War 2, and learning more about the Special Operations Executive, which I knew some about, but not their training methods. I liked the sibling relationship between Cristabel, Flossie, and Digby. But there was so much description and similes and metaphors that again, made this book longer than it needed to be. I really liked the theatre, too, but it was mostly used as the bookends of the story. There were some side characters that had POV that I didn’t know why they had it (cough Maudie cough). But other side characters I loved, like Lieselotte.

I loved the second half of this book but the first half was much slower and took me quite some time to get through.

I’ve tried and tried to get into this book. Sadly I had to DNF it. It wasn’t for me. I am so happy to see so many people love it and that is so fantastic.
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book for my honest review.

This was a great book and I enjoyed reading it! I look forward to seeing what this author comes out with next.

Cristabel Seagrave is only four when she’s introduced in this novel. Her widowed father, Jasper, remarries and it’s clear that her stepmother, Rosalind, has no interest in being a mother to Cristabel. She soon becomes pregnant and she’s hopeful that she’ll get a brother, but it’s a girl and she has Flossie instead. Following Jasper’s accidental death, Rosalind finds herself pregnant again by Jasper’s brother, Willoughby, and this time it’s a boy. Digby, Flossie, and Cristabel grow up together on an expensive estate in Dorset between the Great War and World War 2, and it’s a magical childhood.

The Whalebone Theatre is told in five acts, the final two taking place during World War 2 when each of the Seagrave children finds a way to serve. I admit to being completely burned out on WWII historical fiction. This one led me there gradually and I loved how it progressed through the war as they all hit adulthood. I adored the writing and the narrative, but also that the author mixed it up telling it partly though lists, letters, and newspaper clippings. It had a unique, magical feel, a bit Downton Abbey, a smidge Little Women (the good parts), and overall really special.

“For a fortunate few, war allows us to rise in ways that would otherwise be impossible. We can bring the very best of us to bear.”
― Joanna Quinn, The Whalebone Theatre

Cristabel Seagrave loses her mother during childbirth, and her father, Jasper, who remarries when she is four, passes away shortly thereafter. This leaves Cristabel in the care of her disinterested stepmother, Rosalind, who later marries Jasper’s aviation-obsessed brother, Willoughby.

One stormy night in 1928, a whale washes up on the shores of the English Channel near Devon. By law, the whale belongs to the King, but twelve-year-old orphan Cristabel, along with her half-sister Flossie, cousin Digby, kitchen maid Maudie Kitcat, and a visiting Russian painter named Taras Kovalsky, transform the massive rib cage into a theater. They stage performances of The Iliad and various Shakespearean plays, gaining some notoriety in the process.

Fourteen years later, Cristabel and Digby's experience in theatrical playacting becomes valuable when they are both airdropped into Nazi-occupied France on separate espionage missions to aid the Resistance during World War II.

The novel explores themes of love, family, bravery, and the loss of innocence, delivering an imaginative narrative. However, despite its 558-page length, the book failed to captivate me. I didn’t feel connected to the characters, except for the delightful portrayal of Christa as a young girl. It wasn’t one of those books I looked forward to reading at the end of the day, but I enjoyed it enough to give it 3.5 stars.

As a thespian and book lover, the title of the new book by Joanna Quinn drew me instantly in: The Whalebone Theatre. I didn’t bother reading the full description before diving in. The title was enough for me. I’m glad I skipped – some word may have given things away.

The Whalebone Theatre is a long, literary read set in the early decades of the 1900s, shortly after WWI and through WWII. It takes a bit for the title to make sense, but once it does, my fellow theatre lovers will delight in the memories and emotions the tale pulls out.

I admit that the social class and much of what goes on in the story (well, the first sections anyway) aren’t my cup of tea. I’m not romantic about the period, so I don’t settle easily into the lifestyle of the characters.

As the story deepens, and the title unfolds, I found myself more drawn in. It’s an eccentric tale, with an unusual cast of characters ranging from the sensitive, yet practical lead to the distinctive siblings, the bold maids, to the parent figures who I’m glad to never know.

Tragedy mixed with comedy, curiosity blended with expectations, The Whalebone Theatre is exceptionally written in beautiful language and truly pulls you into the era. The literary tale will carry you through intrigue and sorrow, adventure and pain.

I recommend this book for anyone who appreciates a well-crafted, Modern-era stories that involve British peoples, theatre, and bold women. You’ll find all these contained within the pages, along with frisky Russians, French governesses, and wartime adventuring in many unique settings.

This is the story of a trio of children who grew up in England between WWI and WWII, and their involvement in WWII when it started during their early adulthood. It details their actions in the war, and how the war impacted these three and the estate upon which they grew up. It is historical fiction, with what appear to be well-researched and accurate details.

This is one of those "you will love it or hate it" types of books. Unfortunately for me, I am much closer to the latter category. This novel reminds me, in some ways of the novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which does much the same thing. There is a lot a character development in this novel, and wonderful descriptions - but for me, the characters are mostly rather flat, and the descriptions are all there are. For almost the first half of the book, nothing happens. The author introduces the characters and watches them grow up. There are some interesting incidents in the children's lives, but many - even most - of them could be left out without changing the book in any way, and in terms of the plot, nothing happens. It is simply a recounting of the lives of three children with a somewhat odd relationship due to the various relationships of their parents. This portion of the novel could have been cut down to about one-tenth of its length without impacting the second half. I struggled mightily to reach the second half, wherein something actually happens. The second half is not bad, if you can make it that far, and tells a tale of wartime intrigue.

If you enjoy recountings of peoples' day-to-day lives in a different time, and watching children grow up, you may enjoy this novel - but it wasn't for me. Not because it was bad, as some people will love it for the very things I dislike, but because it is simply not the type of book I enjoy. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love WWII novels and movies mostly because I always learn something about history, culture, and the people during that timeframe. Typically, there is a lot of research that goes into writing a book in this genre. The Whalebone Theater goes into more detail than any book I have read. In addition to the characters, the drafty manor, the theater, and the Dorset shore. At times I thought this should be a mini-series, yet it couldn’t be “mini” anything. The heroine, Cristabel Seagrave is memorable, frustrating, and heartbreaking. While I wished at times this was a shorter book with more editing, I also appreciated that detail and nuance that went into writing this book. In the end, these were characters that invite you into their world and Joanna Quinn is a terrific debut author.

this was a beautifully written, truly original story filled with very specific, well-drawn characters.

the pacing is a bit erratic but actually matches the narrative; early years of relative calm are slower while the later, war time years are a bit breathless.

i would definitely recommend this book for readers who enjoy unique, historical fiction.

A family saga covering the first half of the 20th century, this book is also a coming of age story for a young, brilliant, curious girl. Confronting the reality of war, the writing is sensitive and full of delightful emotions.

"The Whalebone Theatre" is a charming novel. Centered on an English family in the interwar period through World War II, the novel explores the family history and idiosyncrasies, as well as the slow decay of their estate. The youngest members of the family, who grew up in this period, are the heart of the novel. They have different ideas about their future and the future of the family estate.

This novel treats all of its characters, even the silliest ones, with sensitivity. It's not a quick read, nor particularly exciting, even during the war; rather, it's a beautiful character study of both a family and a country during this period. I highly recommend it.

The protagonist of this charming novel set in Dorset is Cristabel Seagrave. At the age of 4 Cristabel meets her father’s second wife. She is completely ignored by her. By the age of 12 this headstrong girl runs around the estate with her half-sister and cousin/brother. After finding a dead whale on their beach, the bones are removed and form the background for a stage where Cristabel offers theatre to anyone interested. She builds up quite a reputation. This continues until WWII when her brother Digby joins the army and leaves the estate. Her sister Flossie is left to run the estate and become a Land Girl, holding musical events, etc. for troops stationed nearby. Cristabel becomes one of the women parachuted into France to gain intelligence for the British armed forces and work with the Resistance. Lovely novel.

A whale washes up on the beach in northern England and the law is that it belongs to the king—but the children who find it decide to keep it a secret and ultimately begin to turn the carcass of the whale into their own little playhouse like where they produce plays, their own little theater. This is a stunner, and a perfect selection for book clubs.