The Whalebone Theatre: A Read with Jenna Pick

A Novel

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.

Wonderful insight

Forgot, sake, read this book and listen to it. This is the heart of who we are. I have heard myself in these words so many times the narration is wonderful and the story is wonderful.

Better as it went along

I found it to be slow moving in the beginning but picked up greatly after the children's stories became key

Two books in one

Starts out with the children growing up on their family’s English estate. Then it shifts to WW II and how the three children were involved in the war. Very well written.

Sweeping

This story covers quite a period of time, from post WWI through WWII. It could almost be two stories, the first being that of three children related by their different parents marriages, and their childhood in an English ancestral home. There are a wide cast of intriguing characters that appear on and off the stage of the story. Theatre is a recurring theme. The second story centers on WWII and is much more somber, and tragic. Even though this is a long book, I actually wanted more to fill in some of the gaps.
The narrator is wonderful !

Excellent story

This book combines beautiful sentiment, coming of age, and an in-depth emotional depiction of human behavior during wartime. The characters are well created, and I effortlessly connected with them and their storylines.