The Whalebone Theatre

Book Reviews

Oct 14

The Whalebone Theatre
By: Joanna Quinn

“Everyone costumed up, ready to step on to the stage. I wonder where we will be when the curtain falls.”

“For a fortunate few, war allows us to rise in ways that would otherwise be impossible.”

This book had been on my list for awhile but to be honest, I wasn’t super excited to read it. The title and the book cover weren’t as appealing as some of the other books I had.

But I’m glad I did!

This is a historical fiction family saga that takes place on the shores of England. There are themes of art and acting, magical exploration and discovery, love, family dynamics, and gender and class differences.

It is the story of three siblings—Cristabel, Flossie, and Digby— and how they grow from play-acting on the beach to doing undercover work during WWII.

It’s not an intense read and it’s fairly long, but it still held my attention. I was surprised how much I wanted to keep coming back to it.

Told in five different ‘acts’ (time periods), we follow them from childhood to the teenage years and on to adulthood. We see their family dynamics change and see them grow as individuals. They each realize they don’t ‘fit the mold’ of what is expected of them and are looking for where they belong.

I think this would be a good book club book and I’ve come up with some book club discussion questions listed at the bottom.

Writing Style

I thought the writing of this book was also unique. Within the narration, there were chapters that were letters, postcards, diary entries, newspaper articles, and lists as a way to fill in blanks and move the timeline. I thought this was creative and worked well.

I also thought she had some funny/creative descriptions. For example:

“His wooing of her had largely consisted of him presenting her with historical facts in the way a cat continually brings its owner dead mice, despite their perplexing lack of success.”

“England’s insipid South Coast, the ocean’s limpest handshake.”

“One evening, Robert, a man who began conversations somewhere in the middle…”

“He could hear himself breaking wind in his sleep, the helplessly escaping air a sort of continuation of his inept attempts at making small talk, a smattering of half-hearted repartee.”

“Robert had been blessed with the gift of obliviousness and the villagers appeared to admire him for it.”

“She enjoys both their company and their useful skills, for she admires things done in an adept manner, in the same way she covets tools that can be snapped shut and pocketed.”

“He pulls himself up and announces, as if bringing news from a distant kingdom, ‘I am hungry.’”

“Cristabel says you can play Helen, but you will not need to learn any lines. She says you are to be a mute witness to bloody scenes of horror that you have brought about.”

“Veg sits at the piano to practice, determinedly plonking her way through melodies until she has mastered them, changing direction with each wrong note, like somebody blindfolded colliding with furniture.” (I play piano and my practicing is very similar, this description is spot on!)

“Had there been carpets in the building rather than cheap lino, she imagines a great deal would be swept beneath them.”

“… a handbag that appears to be made from molten cutlery.”

Characters

Much of the book is character study. Here are a few of the main ones with some characteristics we see from the beginning:

I would say the primary character is Cristabel. She outshines the others who are somewhat there as a support to her character and growth.

Cristabel: feisty, clever, mischievous, visionary, takes charge, observant, perceptive; “dauntless leader”

“she had thought it likely that she might be a boy. She had qualities and ambitions well matched to boyhood. An interest in snails and maps and warfare. A roving disposition. Nobody told her that she wasn’t.”

Digby: loyal to a fault, companion

“he has never faltered, gamely following her into bramble bushes and freezing streams.”

“They confiscated my Wind in the Willows. I asked for a new one and Father gave me a cricket bag. Told me not to bother with stories. Told me to give up the stage. Everything I’ve liked has been taken away from me, and nobody could give me a good reason why.”

Flossie: self-conscious, living in the shadow of her mother, not the boy her parents wanted

Willoughby: nonchalant, restless, used to getting what he wants; “a performance”; “no boundaries”

Rosalind: high-maintenance, selfish, neglected and neglectful, lonely

“she has always lived in a dance towards pleasure as a means of distraction.”

“Rosalind has a desperate feeling she will be echoing his words forever. She is a parrot; she is a cave.”

Other Random Comments

As I said earlier that this book is pretty long. The Goodreads summary might be a little misleading because the undercover agent part of the book is not the majority of the story. We don’t get to the WWII part until about 50% through. Crista doesn’t go undercover until 70%.

I was also surprised how long it took to get to the part where the whalebones become a theater.

You’re just going to have to nestle in with this one and take it as it comes. I think it’s meant to be devoured slowly.

I think it was largely her writing style that kept me engaged. I could hear the sounds. The narration depicted the various voices well. And the variety of chapter ‘types’ broke it up.

They reference a Russian female sniper with a ton of kills— if you would like to learn about that story read The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn.

Some fun words I learned!

Flibbertigibbet: a frivolous, flighty, or excessively talkative person

Bolthole: a place where a person can escape and hide

Batman: an officer’s personal servant (so Alfred is Batman’s batman?)

Bagsied: called dibs

Here are a couple other quotes I liked:

“War might depend on people who don’t flinch, but humanity rather relies on those who do.”

“She realizes that, for all she resents the unfair advantages given to the opposite sex, she does not want to be a man, she only wants it not to matter that she is a woman. She wants this. This friendship, this acceptance. To be valued for what she can do, rather than told what she can’t.”

More Plot Details

[FYI— I suppose this may give some spoilers but they’re not shocking twists or anything that would ruin the book]

Crista’s mother— her father’s true love—died in childbirth. He never really loved Crista. Her Uncle Willoughby, exciting and adventurous, gave her more attention whenever he was in town.

Eventually her father marries a younger woman— Rosalind— whom he also doesn’t really love but does so to try to get a male heir for his wealthy estate.

They have a girl— Flossie— who gets the nickname ‘The Veg’ because Rosalind says she looked like a vegetable when she was born. Rosalind, an aspiring socialite, was not up to the mothering task and would rather throw parties and buy luxury items then care for the children.

Crista’s father dies and Rosalind ends up marrying Willoughby and finally bea

rs a son— Digby— who is now the heir they were hoping for.

As you can see, the siblings already have a complicated relationship with each other and their parents.

To escape the tension at home, the imaginative and brave Christa leads the other two into grand adventures in the woods and waters around their home.

When a whale carcass washes up on shore they eventually use the bones to create a makeshift theater stage on the beach where they put on elaborate plays for family and eventually the community.

This thread of ‘acting’ plays a big role in all of their lives. As we jump ahead to the throes of WWII, Crista and Digby find that their acting skills may come in handy to work undercover against the Nazi party.

Some of the questions this book sets out to answer are: What is their purpose in life? How does the war change how they see themselves and others? Can they all survive the war intact?

Recommendation

I think I would have liked the undercover agent part to be a more significant part of the story and I’m not sure if the ending was big enough for how long the book was, but I still enjoyed it.

If you like historical fiction, family sagas, and character development, I think you’ll like this one.

If you want something more fast-paced, better pass.

[Content Advisory: No f- or s-words. Some promiscuity but nothing described. Most often implied or spoken of in delicate vague terms. A couple LGBTQ characters but it’s not a prominent theme.]

Book Club Discussion Questions

I think there are a lot of things that could be talked about, here are some to get you started:

What does the whale symbolize for each character?
How does their childhood happening right after WWI shape them?
Taras says, “Money is the great destroyer of art.” Do you think this is true?
Why do you think Rosalind never bonded with the girls? (Especially if she felt neglected as a woman)
What do you think Rosalind wanted out of life?
Did your view of Jasper change at all?
Which character do you most relate to?
What is your opinion of art? Which of the arts speaks most to you— music, dance, painting, acting, sculpture, etc?
What characteristics of their parents do Crista, Flossie, and Digby resemble?
Why do you think Crista is drawn to the goddess statue?
What connects Leon and Crista?
How does each of their (Crista, Digby, Flossie) childhoods prepare them for their future role in the war?
Which of the three took on roles in the war that surprised them?
What role does Perry play in the lives of the trio?
Why do you think Uncle Willoughby is absent from the second half of the story?
What do you think Cristabel’s dream at the very end signifies?
How would you have liked it to end?