The Whalebone Theatre

When a whale washes up on the shores of the English Channel, everybody knows that the creature’s corpse belongs to the king. However, Cristabel claims the beast as her own; years later, she transforms the whale’s bones into a theater with help from her half-sister, her cousin, a kitchen maid, and a Russian artist. Under the proscenium of the Whalebone Theatre, this unlikely troupe stages annual productions, flourishing and attracting increasingly larger audiences. Performances grind to a halt with the onset of World War II, and soon after Cristabel and her cousin Digby are called upon to act as spies for the British government. Evocative of I Capture the Castle and Charlotte Gray, Quinn’s debut novel is ambitious historical fiction brilliantly taking shape as an ode to the escapist power of books, music, and theater. Olivia Vinall’s narration breathes life into a cast of eccentric characters, each performed with a measured delivery and emotional identity that helps listeners differentiate the shifting points of view.