This was really different than what I normally read and not necessarily what I was expecting, but it was wonderful. It was so well written and very descriptive without being long winded. There were some great characters, some not needed, and some truly despicable characters (well written and part of the story, not badly written despicable). I really hope Joanna Quinn writes another book because I will most definitely read it.

Thank you Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing this ARC to review. ~I was given this book and made no commitments to leave my opinions, favorable or otherwise. ~

The descriptive writing is wonderful. You're immediately transported to the sea, or to the great lawns of the house, or the little woods on the way to the theatre. Well done.

I couldn't forgive the way Cristabel's family treated her. She was completely neglected. This was a well to do family -- why didn't she have a nanny? Wouldn't her mother, who was so on top of absolutely every aspect of the home, have found the best nanny before the baby arrived? After the tragedy, did her father just hand Cristabel over to the 10 year old maid to raise in the attic? And then, the second daughter, such a disappointment, actually was called "Veg" after her father said she could be called The Vegetable in his despair of not having a son? For years she was "Veg". Then came the much wanted son -- different father -- and he was deservedly loved by all. The parents were vapid, drunk, completely unaware of the children, who were raised by the servants.

Some unnecessary characters included who only added length to the book. It could have been completely focused on the three children as they grew to adults with only a peripheral connection to the so-called adults around them.

The WWII scenes were riveting, but it took me until then to feel like I wanted to continue with the story.

The Whalebone Theatre
Joanna Quinn

This was my first NetGalley read and a beautiful debut novel that swept me off my feet.

The story begins New Year’s Eve, 1919 in Dorset, England. The reader first meets Cristabel Seagrave, a plucky, grimy, three year old who is meeting her new, twenty-three year old stepmother for the first time.

Despite the old money and living in a traditional English manor, Cristabel’s father, Jasper Seagrave, and stepmother, Rosalind, are both melancholy individuals and wrapped up in their own misery – Jasper, desperately misses his first wife who was the love of his life and Cristabel’s mother. Rosalind, an extremely annoying and unlikeable character, was deeply disappointed in married life with her new husband. She hopes for an heir as soon as possible and is utterly distraught when her first child is a girl.

Cristabel is a reminder to Jasper of his first wife and a nuisance to her stepmother. Since she’s merely a female and not an heir, she is squirreled away in the freezing attic with the servants and raised by a governess. Despite the abysmal, neglectful treatment received from her father and stepmother, Cristabel is undeterred and continues to march to the beat of her own drum. She is ecstatic at the birth of her sister, Flossie, and just as happy when the heir, Digby, is born.

The author’s writing was beautiful and descriptive, making the reader feel as though we are really there. “The air is as fresh as clean laundry”, “sounds traveling over the water like skimmed stones”, “seafront motels neglected after years of diminished wartime trade…a line of vacant faces squinting out at a battleship-grey sea” all stand out.

This was a fantastic coming of age story about the relationship of Cristabel and her two siblings. Despite the obvious favoritism shown to Digby, the three are inseparable, creating a theater out of whalebones washed up on shore. The story follows the three as they each forge their way through life and WWII. Although they are called to separate roles during the war, their bond is unwavering.

I definitely look forward to Joanna Quinn’s next book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for gifting me a copy of this novel to read in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts are my own.

What do you do if you find a dead whale on your beach? Claim it for your own, of course! So does Cristabel, the oldest daughter of Chilcomb, a creaking manor on the Dorset coast. It's the 1920s, and while the adults are reveling, the children are exploring, digging, climbing, reading, and listening at keyholes. Besides Cristabel, there's her half sister Flossie and her "cousin" Digby, We know what the world is hurtling toward but they do not. Each one is remarkable, but how will they fit into a world at war?

Joanna Quinn has written a luscious novel, refreshing because people develop their own selves without endless outside influence. This does not mean that they grow into their best selves--there's a lot of drinking and thoughtless behavior--but the elements of Christa, Flossie, and Digby are set by the time they step onto the war stage. Two are spies, one a farmer. These are people who put on a production of the Illiad in a whale's ribcage using neighbors, stuffed animals, and sets by a Russian surrealist artist they met on the beach.

This novel is recommended to anyone wanting an immersive reading experience with quirky, characters who find their ways. It's great that this is Joanna Quinn 's first novel. I hope she has plans for many more.

While this is very well written, unfortunately, it's just not for me. It seems to belong more in the category of Women's Fiction than Adult Fiction. And it begins with the thoughts and feelings of a very young girl, which really isn't my cup of tea.

First I must divulge that this is a long book. It is very descriptive and detail specific. There is sexual references and some mild violence. I must confess that this book caused me to experience a variety of emotions. I was sad, a little angry, sometimes shocked and surprised by the family interaction of the characters. Although the lives of several characters is being described, I feel as if Cristabel is the central character. She is the one who first captured my attention and so I based everything else happening in the book as it related to her. Cristabel’s family is very dysfunctional, the concept of love is not very noticeable. The one thing I will say is that Cristabel had a one track and very determined mind even at a young age. Follow the thoughts, actions, and desires of the Seagrave family.

British aristos with a complicated family find meaningful lives during WWII as a spy, another spy, and a Land Girl. It's perfect for Julian Fellowes to adapt. While it does have many moments of charm, and while the characters are very likable, the overall theme of the book is so well-tread at this point that I could predict events far in advance. Of course the heir is gay; of course he dies, nobly. Of course the Land Girl has a flirtation with a German POW; of course she marries the vicar. Of course the smart, brave spy survives terrible things and eventually returns home. The entire initial section about the various parents of the protagonists was incredibly obvious from the very first pages. And even the parts that were nominally more interesting, like the plays put on at the family estate, were unoriginal: setting Shakespeare against a fascist backdrop, with black and red flags? Old news. Women as Prospero? Old news. It's a bit of a shame, because the writing is clear and the descriptions are good and it's evocative as a whole; it's just that it's evocative of dozens of books and films and TV series that have come before.

This epic story of a British family across generations was just my cup of tea. The themes of love, loss, redemption, reconciliation, and coming of age are so well developed through the narrative and cast of multiple characters. Christobel, the oldest daughter, is the main narrator. However, the many other characters, particularly her siblings, have their own stories woven into the narrative. The wring is exquisite: beautiful descriptions (particularly of the estate and its surrounding landscape), enhanced by imaginative figurative language, bring the settings and characters alive. These descriptions slow down the narrative a bit However, I did not mind this and personally loved the meandering style. I also enjoyed the final chapter (called “Epilogue”) that reflected on the main characters and where their lives would go next.

I did find the WWII sections less compelling and interesting. I have read quite a bit of WWII fiction and the events here just did not have the emotional tension and intensity that I’ve experienced when reading most of the fiction focusing on that era. Even the tragedy seemed anticlimactic and too formulaic.

This was an ambitious endeavor for a first- time author. Writing from the perspective of so many characters, several of whom were only briefly part of the story, was challenging. Also, the interspersion of diary entries, letters, and even a poem might seem jarring to some readers. I personally liked those forms when they appeared and thought they were appropriate for that point in the story (except for the poem).

If you like books about early 20th century British history, I do recommend this one. Particularly the decadence of British society prior to WWII is brilliantly portrayed through the eyes of children.

This book was well written but was very long- I think it could be shortened or turned into 2 volumes so that it doesn’t seem like such a long slog to get through it.

I struggled to get into this and, due to some really long passages, found that I was skipping parts towards the end.

However, the storyline was good and would recommend.

So the book seemed to have a slow start. I did read somewhere that someone said if felt like two books in one and I agree. The first have (act 1 & 2) were so slow for me and hard to get in to. But when they were at war, I finally started to really enjoy the book.
Thank you for allowing me to read this book.

"Cristabel had always wanted her life to be a story."

Hers will be a story you will not forget. Orphaned at a very young age, Cristabel Seagrave will nearly raise herself in the household of her stepmother Rosalind and stepfather Willoughby who will marry Rosalind after the death of his brother Jasper, Rosalind's father. This family dynamic may seem complex at first but will resolve itself quickly. Cristabel is as close to the two children of Rosalind and Willoughby, Florence (Flossie) and Digby as any biological siblings could be.
Cristabel will discover a dead whale at the shoreline of the family property Chilcombe in Dorset, England, and will claim the carcass for her own. From it she will fashion a theater where she, Flossie and Digby along with others will perform plays.
A male artist and his entourage that include children are "found" near the whale bones by the Seagraves. . It turns out that women in the entourage know Rosalind from earlier days, and the group is given a place to live on the property. The children develop wonderful acting skills. which will be invaluable in the years ahead..
As World War II threatens, Digby enlists and Cristabel joins a WAFF women's group. Flossie stays at Chilcombe and creates a garden that includes the Whalebone Theater. German prisoners work on the property.
Cristabel seeks a more active role in the war effort and is sent to France as a courier. Digby too is working undercover. Time passes with no word from Digby., and Cristabel will do everything she can to learn his fate.
One of the driving forces of this novel is the creation of lives of utter worthiness that Cristabel, Flossie and
Digby develop without real parenting but instead by parenting each other.

This book, although long, was incredible, taking you through the lives and adventures, pain and tears of WWII. It mostly told the tale from women's roles in the war. It had its slow parts, but overall it takes you on a ride you don't want to get off. It starts from when Cristabel was four years old and deals with all the crazy rules of heirs of estates in England in the 1920s all the way to WWII in England and in France in the 1940s. It was a very interesting book that sucks you into it.

Thank you to Knopf Publishing and Joanna Quinn for an ARC and the opportunity to provide feedback.

As a debut novel, The Whalebone Theater hits all the right notes. A coming of age story with a precocious protagonist named Christabel Seagrave, the novel spans roughly 25 years from 1920-1945. Christabel is introduced as a 3 year-old child with a vivid imagination fueled by a lack of interest on the part of her father and bullying by her governess and stepmother.

She and her half-sister Florence and cousin Digby nurture their love of make believe by presenting plays. When a dead whale washes ashore, Christabel claims it and the Whalebone Theater is born. By the time they reach adulthood, the three children are
thoroughly disillusioned by the adults in their lives. Each of them has to find his or her own path and live it and they do through a war and beyond.

I gave The Whalebone Theater 3.5 stars because I felt there was simply too much detail in some areas of the book. I just wanted to get through it and move on.

I couldn't bring myself to finish it. It's well written just doesn't seem to be edited... at all... whatsoever. I made it to the discovery of the whale at the beach and was tired of everyone but Christabel. Poor, neglected Christabel who is possibly the only worthwhile character (the veg allows herself to be called that and Digby is clearly spoiled) who could have gotten her character and desires across in 2 pages rather than ALL the pages of the first segment before the whale. Her step mother and uncle could better be described in a paragraph as self absorbed, neglectful stereotypes.
That said, the prose was wonderful just exhaustingly detailed and unnecessary. I do look forward to better edited works by the author.

This book is historical fiction that reads like a true book. It was sent to me electronically for review from Netgalley. Although the story moves a little slowly, it is worth it to read to the end. The characters are likable...some of them...others maybe not too much...the whale...the others...history...what to do next? Why? What happened? Questions that will be answered in the book by this talented author. I look forward to more books by her. Try this one...wrap up in a warm afghan, enjoy a cup of steaming hot herbal tea...be transported for an afternoon...