The Whalebone Theatre

 By: Joanna Quinn

Location: FIC QUI

Genre: Historical Fiction, WWII

An utterly enchanting, immersive novel about an irrepressible young heroine who becomes an undercover agent during World War II--a sparkling debut, by turns heartwarming and heartbreaking.

One blustery night in 1928, a whale washes up on the shores of the English Channel. By law, all whales belong to the King, but twelve-year-old Cristabel Seagrave has other plans. She and the rest of the household and their guests--her sister, Flossie (known affectionately as The Veg); her brother Digby, the long-awaited heir to Chilcombe manor; Maudie Kitkat, maidservant; Taras, a hot-tempered visiting artist--build a theatre within the whale's skeleton. Cristabel is an orphan, mostly ignored by her feckless step-parents and brisk governesses. But within the Whalebone Theatre, she is fully at home and in charge, and her imagination comes to life.

As Cristabel grows into a headstrong young woman, chafing against expectations, World War II rears its head. She and Digby become British secret agents working undercover in Nazi-Occupied France on separate missions--a more dangerous kind of play-acting, it turns out, and one that threatens to tear the family apart.

I loved this novel so much. I didn’t want it to end. It was beautifully written and well plotted. Joanna Quinn grew up in Dorset and skilfully weaves descriptions of nature, landscapes and the sea throughout the novel.

Overall, I found ‘The Whalebone Theatre’ an astonishing debut and a powerful coming-of-age story told against the backdrop of the events of the first half of the 20th century. It is both epic and intimate, a comedy and a tragedy.

Definitely a novel that I expect will prove popular with reading groups given the quality of the writing, period detail and its cast of memorable characters.