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Gorgeous . . . Delightful . . . On atmospherics, The Whalebone Theatre is absolute aces . . . Reading it is like plunging into a tub of clotted cream while (or whilst) enrobed in silk eau-de-Nil beach pajamas . . . Quinn's imagination and adventuresome spirit are a pleasure to behold, boding more commanding work to come. -Alexandra Jacobs, New York Times In an astonishing debut, Quinn creates an enchanting world and a cast of thoroughly endearing characters whom readers will be sorry to leave behind . . . A genre-bending delight. -Jane Murphy, Booklist (starred) Dazzling and imaginative . . . Peacetime whimsy gracefully segues into scenes of unbearable tension and heart-wrenching suspense . . . Combining elements of I Capture the Castle, Brideshead Revisited, and Charlotte Gray, this is a reading experience to be long cherished. -Publishers Weekly (starred) Destined to become a classic . . . Elegantly written and totally immersive, this is escapism fiction at its very best . . . Quinn's debut is a wonder. -Eithne Farry, Daily Mail The Whalebone Theatre gives you wings . . . Slightly alarmingly, it is Joanna Quinn's debut-how on earth is she this good? . . . Full of brilliant set pieces that pop and crackle with tension . . . Quinn handles her sprawling cast with ease and compassion . . . Reading contemporary fiction is rarely that fun . . . Just dive in and slurp it up. -Susie Goldsbrough, The Times My ideal novel . . . Quinn creates a world so rich with observation, detail, humanity, and heart that you are incapable of doing anything but drinking it in with greedy delight. -Natasha Poliszczuk, YOU magazine It's astonishing to discover that this beguiling story is Joanna Quinn's first novel . . . If you loved Elizabeth Jane Howard's Cazalet series and Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle you'll absolutely adore this. It's touching, enthralling, and superbly written-an extraordinary book that deserves to be read and re-read. -Emma Lee-Potter, Independent, #1 Best Overall of 10 Best Books to Read This Summer I was swept away by this compelling, beautifully written debut and its plucky heroine. -Joanne Finney, Good Housekeeping It's the book of the summer . . . Honestly, I want to sound a trumpet and put out some flags. It is pure heaven from first word to last. It's a debut novel, incredibly for something so assured and fully realised . . . Generous, filling, deeply satisfying funny-sad, every page crammed with life and experience . . . The Whalebone Theatre is one of those books that has you hooting with laughter one minute and feeling absolutely floored the next . . . Quinn is one of those writers who has her finger on humanity's pulse. An absolute treat of a book, to be read and reread. -India Knight, The Sunday Times Utterly heartbreaking and joyous . . . I just disappeared into The Whalebone Theatre and didn't want to leave. -Jo Baker, author of Longbourn Playful, inventive, sharp, funny, The Whalebone Theatre offers the sort of reading experience that is remarkably rare, even for those of us whose happiest hours are spent with books: sheer, undiluted delight from start to finish . . . It breathes fresh, bracing air into the lungs of the multi-generational saga-and the very form of the novel itself . . . Most importantly of all, perhaps, Quinn gives us Cristabel, the sort of intelligent heroine that has been sorely missing from every other classic since Middlemarch . . . It's impossible not to be charmed by this book. -Susan Elderkin, author of Voices Magnificent. As capacious, surprising and magical as the whale that lends its bones to Cristabel's theatre: a tale of intertwined lives and braided fates as deftly managed and heartbreaking as a Dickens novel. -Rebecca Stott, author of Ghostwalk Can there be a better proscenium arch than the salvaged ribs of a beached whale? Framed by these giant bones, Quinn's story passes like a fabulous pageant, richly coloured and packed with incident, taking us from the lonely and unorthodox Dorset childhood of the extraordinary Cristabel to the poignant aftermath of her heroic Second World War. Quinn has a sublime touch: Cristabel and her troupe are unforgettable, as riotous in comedy as they are heart-breaking in tragedy. -Frances Liardet, author of We Must Be Brave The Whalebone Theatre has all the makings of a classic. And Cristabel Seagrave is the most gratifying hero. The war scenes often left me breathless: they are as good as you will ever read. A wonderful debut. Actually, a tour de force. -Sarah Winman, author of Still Life Utterly captivating. An epic romp with characters you cannot help but fall in love with and a plot that takes you in all sorts of unexpected directions. Written with great heart, humour and humanity, it's the kind of book you want to escape normal life to read at every available opportunity. -Elizabeth Day, author of The Party The circus playfulness of the language, the old story of the great house dazzlingly refreshed, the kind heart and the witty eye, the deep understanding of a girl's need to be the hero of her own life-this is a book that will be loved unreasonably and life-long, I believe, like I Capture The Castle. -Francis Spufford, author of Light Perpetual

Playful, inventive, sharp, funny, The Whalebone Theatre offers the sort of reading experience that is remarkably rare, even for those of us whose happiest hours are spent with books: sheer, undiluted delight from start to finish. Set in a big house on the Dorset coast and spanning the decades between the end of the first World War and the end of the second, it breathes fresh, bracing air into the lungs of the multi-generational saga-and the very form of the novel itself. Few people writing today can match Quinn for the energy and precision of her prose: sentences begin boldly, proceed to hit every nail on their path, then land, gorgeously, in a totally unexpected place. In Quinn's hands, archetypes are re-born: characters damaged by the usual unsavoury traditions of the British aristocracy are depicted with piercing efficiency, then found to be loveable despite it all. Catchphrases from the past are dug up, tossed wittily around, and suddenly understood for the very first time. Most importantly of all, perhaps, Quinn gives us Cristabel, the sort of intelligent heroine that has been sorely missing from every other classic since Middlemarch: disinterested in marriage yet capable of immense love. It's impossible not to be charmed by this book, its cast of characters, and Quinn's constantly striking prose. It is both reassuringly familiar, and startlingly new: a big fat Victorian novel written by someone from the post #metoo years. -Susan Elderkin, author of Voices Magnificent. As capacious, surprising and magical as the whale that lends its bones to Cristabel's theatre: a tale of intertwined lives and braided fates as deftly managed and heartbreaking as a Dickens novel. -Rebecca Stott, author of Ghostwalk Can there be a better proscenium arch than the salvaged ribs of a beached whale? Framed by these giant bones, Quinn's story passes like a fabulous pageant, richly coloured and packed with incident, taking us from the lonely and unorthodox Dorset childhood of the extraordinary Cristabel to the poignant aftermath of her heroic Second World War. Quinn has a sublime touch: Cristabel and her troupe are unforgettable, as riotous in comedy as they are heart-breaking in tragedy. -Frances Liardet, author of We Must Be Brave The Whalebone Theatre has all the makings of a classic. And Cristabel Seagrave is the most gratifying hero. The war scenes often left me breathless: they are as good as you will ever read. A wonderful debut. Actually, a tour de force. -Sarah Winman, author of Still Life Utterly captivating. An epic romp with characters you cannot help but fall in love with and a plot that takes you in all sorts of unexpected directions. Written with great heart, humour and humanity, it's the kind of book you want to escape normal life to read at every available opportunity. -Elizabeth Day, author of The Party The circus playfulness of the language, the old story of the great house dazzlingly refreshed, the kind heart and the witty eye, the deep understanding of a girl's need to be the hero of her own life-this is a book that will be loved unreasonably and life-long, I believe, like I Capture The Castle. -Francis Spufford, author of Light Perpetual

Utterly heartbreaking and joyous . . . I just disappeared into The Whalebone Theatre and didn't want to leave. -Jo Baker, author of Longbourn Playful, inventive, sharp, funny, The Whalebone Theatre offers the sort of reading experience that is remarkably rare, even for those of us whose happiest hours are spent with books: sheer, undiluted delight from start to finish. Set in a big house on the Dorset coast and spanning the decades between the end of the first World War and the end of the second, it breathes fresh, bracing air into the lungs of the multi-generational saga-and the very form of the novel itself. Few people writing today can match Quinn for the energy and precision of her prose: sentences begin boldly, proceed to hit every nail on their path, then land, gorgeously, in a totally unexpected place. In Quinn's hands, archetypes are re-born: characters damaged by the usual unsavoury traditions of the British aristocracy are depicted with piercing efficiency, then found to be loveable despite it all. Catchphrases from the past are dug up, tossed wittily around, and suddenly understood for the very first time. Most importantly of all, perhaps, Quinn gives us Cristabel, the sort of intelligent heroine that has been sorely missing from every other classic since Middlemarch: disinterested in marriage yet capable of immense love. It's impossible not to be charmed by this book, its cast of characters, and Quinn's constantly striking prose. It is both reassuringly familiar, and startlingly new: a big fat Victorian novel written by someone from the post #metoo years. -Susan Elderkin, author of Voices Magnificent. As capacious, surprising and magical as the whale that lends its bones to Cristabel's theatre: a tale of intertwined lives and braided fates as deftly managed and heartbreaking as a Dickens novel. -Rebecca Stott, author of Ghostwalk Can there be a better proscenium arch than the salvaged ribs of a beached whale? Framed by these giant bones, Quinn's story passes like a fabulous pageant, richly coloured and packed with incident, taking us from the lonely and unorthodox Dorset childhood of the extraordinary Cristabel to the poignant aftermath of her heroic Second World War. Quinn has a sublime touch: Cristabel and her troupe are unforgettable, as riotous in comedy as they are heart-breaking in tragedy. -Frances Liardet, author of We Must Be Brave The Whalebone Theatre has all the makings of a classic. And Cristabel Seagrave is the most gratifying hero. The war scenes often left me breathless: they are as good as you will ever read. A wonderful debut. Actually, a tour de force. -Sarah Winman, author of Still Life Utterly captivating. An epic romp with characters you cannot help but fall in love with and a plot that takes you in all sorts of unexpected directions. Written with great heart, humour and humanity, it's the kind of book you want to escape normal life to read at every available opportunity. -Elizabeth Day, author of The Party The circus playfulness of the language, the old story of the great house dazzlingly refreshed, the kind heart and the witty eye, the deep understanding of a girl's need to be the hero of her own life-this is a book that will be loved unreasonably and life-long, I believe, like I Capture The Castle. -Francis Spufford, author of Light Perpetual

Author Information

JOANNA QUINN was born in London and grew up in Dorset, in the southwest of England, where her debut novel, The Whalebone Theatre, is set. She has worked in journalism and the charity sector. She is also a short story writer, published by The White Review and Comma Press, among others. She lives in a village near the sea in Dorset.

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