Joanna Quinn

Novel 2022 | 576 pages

As I prepare to write this blog post, I keep having an image of a stately mature tree ... deciduous, maple I think.  Whalebone Theater Is like that tree to me. The major British characters, who relate as though they are two sisters and a brother, Cristabel, Flossie, and Dingby, play together, come of age together, find a beached whale together, reach to each other for emotional support in a family that abstains from it.  I adored the three of them together and their unyielding love, acceptance, and respect for one another.  They are solid as they weave together, like the trunk of my maple tree.  And that is the first half of the book.

Then the branches separate and differentiate and grow in their own ways, though all three are supporting Britain in the war effort of WWII.  It is here where the book loses its charm a bit for me .... when the trio separates and they become their own unique people in the world.

Though my concern about where Ms. Quinn took the plot is not enough of a problem to reduce my four-heart rating.  The writing in this debut novel is astounding ... beautiful, visual, clear, deep.  Her characters are real, profound, and eminently lovable.  As she carries them forward into the challenges of the War, we also learn something about agents, secrecy, and the Resistance.

This is an astounding debut novel.  How can one person have so much story within herself to tell?  It is broad and deep, spanning decades.

Thank you Josie for this recommendation. I do look forward to discussing in book club in January.

December 2024