NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER - A TODAY SHOW #ReadWithJenna BOOK CLUB PICK - A transporting, irresistible debut novel that takes its heroine, Cristabel Seagrave, from a theatre made of whalebones to covert operations during World War II - a story of love, family, bravery, lost innocence, and self-transformation. "Absolute aces...Quinn's imagination and adventuresome spirit are a pleasure to behold." - The New York Times "Utterly heartbreaking and joyous."  - Jo Baker, author of Longbourn One blustery night in 1928, a whale washes up on the shores of the English Channel. By law, it belongs to the King, but twelve-year-old orphan Cristabel Seagrave has other plans. She and the rest of the household - her sister, Flossie; her brother, Digby, long-awaited heir to Chilcombe manor; Maudie Kitcat, kitchen maid; Taras, visiting artist - build a theatre from the beast's skeletal rib cage. Within the Whalebone Theatre, Cristabel can escape her feckless stepparents and brisk governesses, and her imagination comes to life. As Cristabel grows into a headstrong young woman, World War II rears its head. She and Digby become British secret agents on separate missions in Nazi-occupied France - a more dangerous kind of playacting, it turns out, and one that threatens to tear the family apart. Author - Joanna Quinn Number of Pages - 576 Format - Hard Cover Publisher - Knopf Published - 2022-10-04