The Whalebone Theatre

By Joanna Quinn,

Book cover of The Whalebone Theatre

Book description

'THE BOOK OF THE SUMMER' Sunday Times

'A tour de force' Sarah Winman, author of Still Life

This is the story of an old English manor house by the sea, with crumbling chimneys, draping ivy and a library full of dusty hardbacks. It's the story of the three children who…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

5 authors picked The Whalebone Theatre as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This story about the life of a group of children from a rich but dysfunctional family and set immediately before the second world war was so beautifully written that it took me there and I could imagine it all, despite it not being something I could ever have experienced myself.

This was a gorgeously written novel with depth and nuance. I wanted to step into the lives of these characters!

I fell in love with the three-year-old Cristabel Seagrove from the first page. I laughed with her, cried with her, and spent many years with her as she navigated her way into adulthood in the company of her equally engaging siblings.

The characters who inhabit their Dorset stately home before and during the Second World War are both engaging and infuriating. It’s an absolute gem of a book. 

From Tessa's list on WW2 novels featuring loners we love.

If you love The Whalebone Theatre...

Ad

Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan. The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced, it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run the…

Just when I thought fiction about World War II had grown stale, I came across Joanna Quinn’s marvelous historical novel.

It opens on a family estate in the English countryside in the aftermath of World War I. The three finely drawn main characters—precocious, determined half-siblings—are basically raising themselves. They share a love of literature and spend their time putting on plays for their friends, family, and neighbors.

As they grow into young adulthood, they are confronted with the brutality of World War II, and each makes a choice about how to help their country.

Quinn deploys lush language to create…

This is a beautifully told story of a highly imaginative and creative child who, left to her own devises, makes a world for herself and siblings to escape the neglect of the self-indulgent adults who have little interest in raising them.

Cristabel Seagrave is courageous, fiercely loyal, and protective. She sees the magic in the environment and people around her and when she makes a theatre from the whalebones she claims as hers, she brings that world to life for others. The book reaffirmed for me the exquisite nature of childhood imagination and the resilience of the human spirit.

If you love The Whalebone Theatre...

Ad

Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan. The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced, it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run the…

Want books like The Whalebone Theatre?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 90 books like The Whalebone Theatre.

Browse books like The Whalebone Theatre

Book cover of All the Light We Cannot See
Book cover of Life After Life
Book cover of The Passenger

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,847

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 If you like The Whalebone Theatre, you might also like...

Book cover of Gunner Hobbs: WWII in the Pacific! Tulagi! Tarawa! Saipan!

Gunner Hobbs by Herb Marlow,

A WWII novel about a young Gunner's Mate - Max Hobbs - serving on a troop transport in the Pacific Theater.

Hobbs is a man with exceptional eye sight who earns a snipers designation in Gunner's Mate school. When he graduates he is assigned to an APA in San Diego,…

Book cover of Dulcinea

Dulcinea by Ana Veciana-Suarez,

Dolça Llull Prat, a wealthy Barcelona woman, is only 15 when she falls in love with an impoverished poet-solder. Theirs is a forbidden relationship, one that overcomes many obstacles until the fledgling writer renders her as the lowly Dulcinea in his bestseller.

By doing so, he unwittingly exposes his muse…

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in World War 1, presidential biography, and Germany?

World War 1 938 books
Germany 494 books