The Whalebone Theatre: A Read with Jenna Pick The Whalebone Theatre: A Read with Jenna Pick

The Whalebone Theatre: A Read with Jenna Pick

A Novel

    • 4.2 • 213 Ratings
    • $14.99

Publisher Description

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.

GENRE
Fiction & Literature
RELEASED
2022
October 4
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
576
Pages
PUBLISHER
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
SELLER
Penguin Random House LLC
SIZE
3.3
MB

Customer Reviews

richypir ,

Great but parts dreadful

Beautiful writing but uneven. Parts exquisite in language but painfully slow in developing the story in the first part of the book. I found myself riveted by some descriptions, then quickly page turning to get back to the story.

brock_zahler ,

DNF

DNF. I had such high hopes for this book. It’s all over reading lists, it’s recommended at the library, and it seems like a great story. The problem? The pacing is terribly slow and the plot is nearly nonexistent. I wish I was able to read a 550 page book with almost no discernible storyline or action, but I am not. I got a little over halfway through, so I’m counting it, if only as a reward for the emotional labor I put myself through every night for a week trying to find something to like about it. I think it could be great if it was more thoughtfully edited. PS: does anyone else feel guilty stopping a book halfway through?

Jamigirl57 ,

Excellent writing

Kept my interest from beginning to the end.

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