This book feels like an epic. The familial version of The lliad, the very first play that Cristabel puts on in the family’s theatre by the beach, formed from the jawbones of a whale, washed up on the beach and claimed for the Seagraves by Cristabel who is the orphan cousin of the family. Cristabel doesn’t really fit anywhere. She loves adventure, activity, and endeavours, climbing, running and conquering the Seagrave estate rather than being the lady her stepmother would expect, if she could be bothered. The Seagrave children are an odd bunch, brought up by staff and each other, while their parents stay in bed late, are never without houseguests and like to drink as soon as it is socially acceptable to do so. This is the story of the heir and the spare. Jasper Seagrave brings his new wife home to the Chilcombe Estate and Rosalind is thrown into being mistress of the house and stepmother to his daughter Cristabel. There are definite vibes of Rebecca in this beginning, with a much younger wife slightly overawed by her new home and struggling to find her place. The ghostly presence in this case being Cristabel, creeping round corridors and the attic, having ‘boy’s own’ adventures with imaginary friends. Rosalind is happy to have bagged an aristocratic husband, considering they’re in very short supply after the war. That is until the ‘spare’ arrives. Willoughby is everything his elder brother isn’t, a dashing war hero fascinated by speed whether it’s a new car or learning to fly. There’s an immediate attraction, deepening when Rosalind is on bed rest in the last stages of pregnancy and Willoughby keeps her company. Is the Chilcombe estate about to lapse into scandal and what will become of Cristabel?

Joanne Quinn’s incredible debut begins at the end of WW1 and takes us all the way through WW2. The attention to detail is incredible and I felt completely immersed in this family’s history and the times they’re living in. This period saw huge changes for the aristocracy, often forced by the loss of two generations and bankruptcy due to death duties. Estates were sold off or had their use changed in order for the family to survive. The class boundaries became blurred as servants and masters fought together and unexpected bonds were created. Women had grown used to different roles, possibly nursing or working in factories or shops, and not all wanted to go back to a domestic role. There were also less men, so the marriage market changed and many society women, like Rosalind, had to be open to marrying some men they might have previously overlooked. The author reinforces this sense of change by echoing it in the setting. When Rosalind first arrives at Chilcombe she was disappointed in the old fashioned country decor, all wood panelling and animal heads. She gradually brings the house into the 1920s with glamorous furniture and wallpaper, perhaps more suited to a London house than the country. Animal heads are banished to the attic, including a stuffed baby elephant on wheels intended as a gift to Cristabel from her mother. In fact Cristabel herself is treated rather like an unwanted piece of decor, stuffed into the attic with only the maid Maudie for company, her tomboyish ways out of step with her elegant and ethereal stepmother. As war looms again, the estate changes accordingly, with its garden turned over to vegetables and the people left behind pulling together as a team whether they are a Seagrave or the servants. They find themselves communing together in the kitchen, with all the elegant furniture sitting around like a piece of jewellery that’s too dressy for everyday wear.

The Seagrave children are the main focus of the novel, Cristabel, Flossie and Digby, each one a cousin or half-sibling they cleave together tightly due to parental neglect. Flossie is the child of Jasper Seagrave and Rosalind and I did find my heart warming to her. Nicknamed ‘The Veg’ thanks to an unfortunate resemblance to a vegetable when she was a baby, I sensed Flossie’s vulnerability. Her mother is beautiful and willowy, a perfect shape for her time, rather like an Art Deco statuette, but Flossie hasn’t inherited that elegance or poise. She’s rather like her father Jasper, a little bit awkward and not very good at asserting herself. WW2 tests Flossie’s metal and she responds with duty, grit and determination. It’s as if by pulling on her old clothes, mucking in with the servants and creating her garden at the whalebones she finds herself and becomes okay with who she is. Her friendship she cultivates with the German prisoner of war is so touchingly beautiful and fleeting. She’s a good person who can see the best traits in someone and bring them out. With both siblings away on special operations, it’s Flossie who has to find a way of keeping Chilcombe and run the estate. Digby, the son of Rosalind and Willoughby Seagrave, has the advantages of being the son and heir, but also seems, like the one Seagrave who was wanted. Cristabel, belonging to Jasper and his first wife, is almost invisible. Flossie is perhaps a reminder of those months Rosalind was Jasper’s wife, something she seems to view with distaste. Digby could have been resented by his siblings, but both girls adore him. His love for acting shines through from being a little boy, when the theatre has a profound effect on him. So much so, that he’s still on the stage when Cristabel finds him in occupied Paris. To some extent, Cristabel is his parent and he looks up to her, happy to follow on in whatever escapade she has planned next.

It is Cristabel who is the hero of this book, from the child who has to crawl in bed with one of the maids for comfort and affection to a special operative in occupied France, she is a survivor. Full of ideas, her determination to claim the beached whale is almost comical, couched in the very male language of expedition and discovery. Once only the bones are left, it takes someone equally creative and energetic to help establish the Whalebone Theatre. A visiting artist, scandalously living in the cottage with his wife and identical twin lovers, imagines walking through the creatures jawbone to reach the theatre (a space repurposed for Flossie’s vegetable garden during WW2). They create a script from Homer’s work and utilising Rosalind’s skills and interest in design, make a seating area and light the way to a stage that has the sea as a backdrop. Their plays succeed in bringing everyone together in the endeavour, each with a part to play whether it’s on stage, setting up, or making flyers for the village. These happy parts of her childhood take on such a nostalgic element, especially years later when she’s crouched in a ditch in occupied France trying to survive. There’s a sense in which the whole ensemble and even the villagers bring up this little girl and I loved the knowing way people would assume some daring escapade was the work of Miss Cristabel. I felt most sorry for her when we go back in time and learn that her story could have been so different. Her mother and father meet at the local hunt and Jasper is knocked off his feet by a woman that wants to talk to him and appears immune to the charms of his notorious brother. There’s a paragraph where Jasper recalls how in tune they were and how brilliant and capable she was of running the estate with him. There’s a great deal of her in Cristabel and I was moved by the joy they felt in finding out they were going to be parents. The stuffed baby elephant they install with wheels for their baby shows that they imagine her like a little Maharaja, riding her elephant around the house.

Cristabel’s war years are incredibly intrepid and there are scenes where I was scared for her. The languid inter-war years seem decadent by comparison with the more sparse and disjointed episodes with all three Seagraves in different parts of the world. I thought the pace really picked up as we followed Cristabel on her missions, parachuting into occupied France as a messenger, often with German soldiers a hair’s breadth away from discovering her. One scene with a German officer is so real I felt sick for her! She proves that her ‘adventures’ were not just an affectation. She is willing to put herself on the line, proving her aptitude for work as a operative, but also such incredible bravery. The final days of Nazi rule in Paris are tense, nail-bitingly so, but I didn’t fear for her. I had a sense Cristabel would survive no matter what. I thought this was an incredible depiction of life through the war, whether from Flossie’s more domestic side and service as a land girl to Cristabel and Digby’s rather more dashing exploits. His sister’s determination to find him showed that these children loved and cared for each other so deeply, probably because they had been left to their own devices. For Cristabel, it is Maudie who shows her what a mother’s love should look like and she in turn, mothers her little brother and sister. The author shows what a toll both wars took on people and the rapid changes they forced on society. I won’t reveal whether any of our characters survive, but Cristabel remembers a saying, that war can bring out the best in people. There are those who shine through difficult days and in their own ways I think the Seagrave children all stepped up to the mark. Most importantly the loving bond they had as children, stood firm and could not be broken.

Joanna Quinn's first novel is a sweeping 500 page plus epic focusing on the lives of the Seagrave family, their friends and servants, during the inter war period at second world war. There are plenty of novels of a similar nature, including offerings by famous and well=loved writers like Louis de Bernieres. But Quinn's writing is of a high quality and this is up there with some of the best efforts in the genre.

The most heavily featured character is Christabel Seagrave, a free spirited girl who does not fit in with the conventions of the era. The second world war offers her opportunities and freedoms she could never have hoped for in her old life, albeit at a terrible price. But the story also encompasses the viewpoints and stories of many other characters, particularly her stepmother, younger half-sister Flossie, and cousin Digby. The 'whalebone theatre' of the title refers to an outdoor theatre set up around the bones of a beached fin whale, where the family staged elaborate amateur productions every year. directed by Christabel.

Much of the story is written in third person prose, but it also features letters, diary entries, lists, and newspaper cuttings. The viewpoint moves between characters, sometimes within the same scene, which can be confusing/irritating. However I noticed that more in the early chapters - later on the author either stopped doing it, or I stopped noticing. The writing is really good quality - Quinn simply has a lovely way of putting things. The story is always engaging and enjoyable, and it doesn't feel as long as it actually is.

The characters are likeable and interesting, and the historical context is interesting. Christabel is a worthy heroine, but my favourite was the stoic Flossie. Even the useless Seagrave parents/step parents are portrayed more sympathetically than they might have been. Whilst the era has been written about a lot, there's a good reason for that - it was a time of massive societal change and the wars themselves offer huge scope for fiction. This story is perhaps one of the best at capturing the gradual but inexorable disintegration of the lifestyle of the wealthy, landowning classes. Families who lived luxurious lives with entire villages beholden to them, suddenly found themselves poor and with no one left to serve them.

This is a really well done historical family novel, and Quinn is a very good writer. Her writing is the sort that would be pleasurable to read no matter what topic she writes about, and I'll certainly read her next book. Readers who like historical fiction and anyone with an interest in the second world war should definitely put this high on their to-read list. It's also good enough to appeal to a wider cohort of readers. It's not stunningly original, but that doesn't always matter if a story is told well, and this one is.

This book is such a joy to read. I'm not sure how many pages it is as I read it on kindle but I'm pretty sure that it is a long book but this is by no means a criticism as I didn't want it to end. "The Whalebone Theatre" by Joanna Quinn is bound to be a hit in 2022 and beyond. She paints the most beautiful picture of three wonderful children and their unusual upbringing in Dorset. Very reminiscent of "I Capture the Castle" by Dodi Smith. It takes a while to find out about what the Whalebone Theatre will be but it is a unique idea and the rest of the book always comes back to it, even during the war. There were some heartbreaking moments but that is life in World War 2, however the characters and storyline triumph over the sadness. Is it too early to reread it again?

Loved it! This was not the type of fiction I normally read but being ready for a new title I requested it from Netgalley when it came up as a recommended read. The first thing I would warn about is that this is a long book. It takes a while for the story, or stage so to speak, to be set and the characters introduced., but when it does, my gosh. Each of the main protagonists is given nearly equal narrative and this makes you want to know about their lives. I found myself pondering questions after finishing the novel, like "what happened to..?" but I suppose this is real life. People come and go.
The novel is not split into chapters but "acts" like a play so it is easy to read for longer than you mean too as there is no scene end. I also thought the advancement of years in the middle was cleverly done by the use of newspaper cuttings.
The second act of the book focuses on WW2 and the participation the main characters take in it. Yes, it is the direction you expect knowing their early lives but I feel the roles they play have not been spoken about as much as others.
My only struggle came when the dead whale was introduced towards the beginning. I felt the narrative around it went on too long but considering the people who were introduced in this part, the characters of the children that we got to know and the role the bones went on to play maybe I am being harsh. But I did think "will this part ever end?"
I would recommend this book in a heartbeat, thank you to Netgalley for the privilage of getting to read it first.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book which I found well written and had engaging characters which held my interest throughout. Very well researched and a perfect read for people who enjoy historical fiction. Highly recommended.

An enjoyable enough read though I was a bit lost for a while on who the main characters were, especially since the Whalebone Theatre didn't appear for the first 200 pages. It just seemed everyone, apart from teh theatre, was a main character until they died.

I originally wrote this on Twitter when I was 15% into the book: #TheWhaleboneTheatre by Joanna Quinn is out in June and all I can say is I love it so much I can hardly bear to read it because I can’t cope with the prospect of getting to the end. It’s SO SO PERFECT IN EVERY WAY. @VikingBooksUK @FigTree43271680 https://t.co/qvAdm4B7Mh
And now that I’ve finished it, I love it even more. What a triumph, what an extraordinary debut. I was utterly immersed in the story, in the family and in the brilliance of the writing. The Whalebone Theatre is indeed perfect and I shall be recommending it to everyone I know.

An unusual and often touching story of a group of children who escape their wealthy parents by play-acting in their home-made Whalebone Theatre on the beach. As adults, their war-time roles reflect their childhood personalities. Christobel's role as Claudine, where she uses her excellent French to great effect, is particularly moving. Love the way diary entries, letters etc are interspersed through the book.

The First World War has just ended. Christabel is the young daughter of a wealthy older father. Her mother died in childbirth. Her father Jasper, devastated by his wife's death, is entirely uninterested in her; her uncle Willoughby, his much younger brother, tries to make up for this on his frequent visits.
Eventually, her father marries again - his wife is much younger and the express aim of their marriage is to provide a son and heir. A daughter is born. Jasper is killed in a riding accident, Willoughby marries the young wife and, many years later, the longed-for son is born.
The house is by the sea and, one day, Christabel and her siblings find dead whale washed up on the beach. The bones of the whale are salvaged - the Whalebone theatre.
The fortunes of Christabel and her siblings are followed through to the Second World War.

A very readable book. Family relationships and disappointments, descriptions of early 20th century life for the privileged. I enjoyed it.

I’m astounded that this is a debut novel. It is superb. It’s a long read, but unlike many other long reads, this one never dips but holds the readers interest throughout

It follows the story of 3 children, living a free life who make their own theatre and perform their own plays. We see these children grow and mature, how war times affect them & how they change with the years always reminiscing about their theatre

This book has everything. Laughter, tears and that moment when you put it down because you don’t want to say goodbye

I have no hesitation in recommending this wonderful debut novel

With thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher for ARC in return for an honest review

Oh my I loved, loved, loved ‘The Whalebone Theatre’ by Joanna Quinn. I’ve always enjoyed stories based around the English country house and ‘old’ families.. this novel reminded me of ‘I Capture the Castle’. The characters were well described , as was the setting. The second half of the book was based around the Second World War and this too was exceedingly evocative of the era.

We meet this family in 1919 and we leave them at the end of the second world war. We follow Cristabel and her dysfunctional family - her distant father Jasper and her young stepmother Rosalind. We are introduced to a number of characters and as the children grow we see the family dynamics change.
This was a book that I didn't personally enjoy but for those who enjoy a family saga, this book will appeal.

I adored the first half of this book and every single one of the characters, even those that were heavily flawed. The writing was fabulous, with some of the most perfect descriptions.

Sadly though I felt the book lost its way in the second half. There were parts where it found itself again but for the most part it was lost as it tried to cover too much all at once.

A bit of a mixed bag of feedback, but I appreciate the publisher providing me with access to this advanced reading copy.

Set in the aftermath of the First World War, Quinn describes the post-war fall of aristocracy that reminds me of the landscape featured in Atonement and Brideshead Revisited. Definitely one for those who love war time drama, the Whalebone Theatre twists from a world of children’s creative imaginations to a fast-paced, War-time thriller. Initially, I was expecting the Whalebone Theatre to be the centre stage throughout the novel but the political landscape means that the theatre takes a backseat as the tone changes. I felt that at times the Second World War could be a catalyst which separates two different narratives. It did make me wonder how intrinsic the theatre was to the latter half of the book. I really like Cristabel as a character and enjoyed seeing her relationship develop with her siblings. However, as the book progresses I found that I didn’t care as much about the characters as I initially thought I would. I liked the book but I found that it tries to achieve a lot and it didn’t quite work for me.

'The Whalebone Theatre' is not what I expected. This very much a historical fiction based on the impact of WWII on a British aristocratic family.
The protagonist, Christabel is a great character: brave, adventurous and loyal.
I really enjoyed the first half before the war and enjoyed the second half during the war even more. I thought the description of the effects if ear on France was well done. However, I am not convinced by the writer's choice to include a string of letters between the characters to reflect the passing of time that takes place in the middle of the narrative. On reflection, there are two quite different stories being told in one novel. I feel it could have been more thoroughly edited, particularly the beginning.
Overall, I enjoyed it and round 3.5 stars up to 4.

This story was a beautiful coming of age tale, told through the eyes of some really fabulous characters. The characters in the book bring the story alive and leaves you wanting to hear more about them.
I am blown away by this book

The Whalebone Theatre is the sprawling tale of the Seagrave family and their English estate, Chilcombe, taking us from the 1920s to the 1940s.

The writer includes various points of view to give us an insight into each family member, but I’d say it is Christabel, a forthright child who is overlooked by her grieving father after the death of her mother, that holds the story together.

Along with her half-sister Flossie and cousin Digby, Christabel learns to entertain herself, telling stories and putting on plays. When the children discover a dead whale washed up on the beach, twelve year old Christabel sees an opportunity to be a main character in her own story and claims it for herself. Its bones are later used to create The Whalebone Theatre of the title - an outdoor amateur theatre for the children in the grounds of Chilcombe.

However, the book then jumps ahead in time to the arrival of World War 2, and the Seagrave children are inevitably scattered. Digby, heir to the Chilcombe estate, joins the army and goes to France, Christabel works as a WAAF and Flossie stays at home, growing crops and helping the war effort. This novel is ultimately their story - a coming of age tale that shows these characters grow and follow very different paths than the ones that were laid out for them, while clinging to the bonds that have bound them together since childhood.

That is not your typical piece of historical fiction, and in my opinion the best characters are definitely the female characters, who often defy societal expectations and find their own way through a changing world. I loved Quinn’s immersive descriptions and her in-depth characterisation of both the Seagraves and the many background characters of the novel. I would certainly read more of her books in future!

Thank you to Netgalley and Fig Tree for the e-ARC!

Cristabel Seagrave has grown up in Chilcombe house, a large estate in Dorset. For three years she was alone, left as a child to wander the house and grounds by herself. Generally cared for by a nanny and servants, but predominantly left to her own devices, her mother deceased, and her father uninterested in her. When her father remarries, then passes away, she becomes an unwanted orphen, with her step mother begrudgingly keeping her in the house. She has a wild and creative imagination and loves to read. When her step parents have children of their own Cristabel finds her own small family in them, her tribe, and she and her siblings enjoy roaming the estate creating their own adventures, just like in her books. Flossie, the plain and undesired female, and then Digby, the much sought after male heir to the Chilcombe estate. With their parents distracted by endless parting and the house continually filled with endless guests and non stop debauchery, the children are left to their own devices. They piece together an education for themselves between the books and plays in the library, and Digby’s minimal tutoring.

One day a whale carcass washes up on the beach at the estate, and twelve year old Cristabel lays claim to it. She is determined to create a different life for herself, she doesn’t want to end up like all the women in her books and stories. Women deserve to be strong characters too. She wants to write her own story. Little does Cristabel realise at the time how much a part of her life this whale will play. As the children grow to adulthood and thoughts of marriage and futures begin to play heavy, war swiftly approaches. Their lives are forced apart on very different paths, and they realise that they have to live their lives in a very different way from that which they expected.

This story was a beautiful coming of age tale, told through the eyes of some really beautiful characters. It was brilliantly written, with each element transporting you to the scene at hand, the estate of Chilcombe, the children's theatre productions, the big city and so on. As the children grew, so too did the scope of their world, expanding from just their estate, and rapidly broadening their horizons, not just in geography, but in life. We see them grow as people and yet try to cling onto the bond they had from their childhood. The theatre that was such a part of their life growing up fades into the background, but still remains part of their thoughts, and desires for the future they yearn for after the war. This was such an immersive read, a wander through a family life, their hopes, dreams, love and loss. It was a long read, but overall it kept your attention. Some parts you wanted to get back to more than others, and find out what was happening next to a certain family member or friend of the family. My only gripe would be that some characters who seemed so pivotal at the start, faded out of the story without much explanation. Overall it is a really lovely read, which brings you back in time and carries you on a beautiful journey.

*I received this copy from NetGalley for review, but all opinions are my own.

The Whalebone Theatre is a delightful piece of historical fiction full of unique and loveable characters; Cristabel, Florence and Digby in particular.

The story began really well and I struggled to put it down; for me it was reminiscent of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The fantastic descriptions made it easy to lose myself in the magical Dorset coast and the children's theatre productions.
However, I did become slightly less invested towards the end as the children grew up and it focused more on World War II. Personally, I would have liked more interaction with the Whalebone Theatre itself throughout, especially considering the title and cover.

Overall, a brilliant debut and I look forward to any future work by Joanna Quinn.

I loved this epic, sprawling tale of family and war and love and death. The characters of Cristabel, Floss, and Digby will stay with you long after you close the final page, but it is the multitude of smaller characters and their carefully-crafted backstories that really give this saga it's heart. There is no flat characterisation here. A book to sink into and immerse yourself. I felt the ending didn't quite hold up to the tightly-written main story that came before it, but that is only a small qualm, and I found this immensely satisfactory.