The Whalebone Theatre
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Olivia Vinall
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Written by:
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Joanna Quinn
About this listen
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 II—a story of love, family, bravery, lost innocence, and self-transformation.
“Absolute aces...Quinn’s 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 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.
©2022 Joanna Quinn (P)2022 Random House AudioWhat the critics say
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 Camilla’s 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 . . . Quinn’s imagination and adventuresome spirit are a pleasure to behold, boding more commanding work to come.”—The New York Times
“What’s remarkable, especially for a first novel, is Quinn’s deft way of depicting this lost world—whether 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 it’s hard to imagine her doing anything else—and 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 craft—characterization, pace, plotting, and well-calibrated humor and suspense—and brilliantly depicts the rugged beauty of her county ‘on the crumbling bottom edge of England.'”—Minneapolis Star Tribune
What listeners say about The Whalebone Theatre
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- yvonne slemko
- 2023-02-26
Beautiful
Beautifully crafted characters, an engrossing story.
I will be looking for more Joanna Quinn novels.
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- Amazon Customer
- 2023-04-07
For the history lovers
I loved this story from the start. Narration was beautiful, very easy listen. Highly recommend for those who like wartime stories with hints of how horrific things were without the upsetting details.
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- celia gjosund
- 2024-02-10
love of siblingd
wonderful war time stpry of priviledge children being brought into a colourful world of all together in war. the horrors of war wher their childhood memories of s theatre they built in different ways
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