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Loading... The Whalebone Theatre (2022)by Joanna Quinn
   No current Talk conversations about this book.   ) cjyap1 | Feb 25, 2024 |  The first half was a little slow for me, but absolutely set the scene of freedom-filled days that contrasted so well with the excitement, duties, dangers and horrors of the war to follow. This felt well researched with a cast of well-drawn characters, and beautifully written. « I knew EVERYTHING when i was twelve years old, and with each year of my life, I know a little less, and there is freedom in that. You have space for a good deal more ». ( ) LARA335 | Jan 27, 2024 | The characters have such depth (  ) MarshaKT | Jan 9, 2024 | It is an outstanding intricate and complete saga of a dysfunctional wealthy English family, a highly believable tale in an accurate framework of history. Following the uncared for children with self-centred parents through to their involvement with daring escapades in WWII. The well painted characters and relationships became alive to me, I shed a tear as one of the children perished near the end. I was interleaving my reading with 'Between Silk and Cyanide' by Leo Marks, describing the workings of British espionage during WWII. It was pleasing to see how close to history the book was. JQ has exciting descriptions full of sights and sounds, an amazing way with words. I had to stop and capture many descriptions on the way. "The crisp displays of October, all its smart oranges and yellows, have been spoilt and scattered about as November rushes in, dragging winter behind it like a trial of rattling cans" p246. (  )2  GeoffSC | Aug 20, 2023 | ) bookczuk | Jul 27, 2023 | no reviews | add a review
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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. "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. No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.92Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 2000-LC ClassificationRatingAverage: (4.01)
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