Heavy snow and difficult travel expected again, heaviest snow in southern Minnesota

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

When we first meet Cristabel, the heroine of Joanna Quinn’s debut novel, “

,” she is only three. But she is already sure of herself, in the pure and defiant way that young children often are. She knows she was born to be a leader. 

But how does she get there? That’s the story at the heart of Quinn’s delightful book, which follows Cristabel and her half-siblings as they grow up on the family’s lush estate in 1920s England. 

The grownups are dizzy with relief that World War I has ended, so they mostly exist in a haze of alcohol and amusements. The children are mostly left to themselves. That’s how they end up staging their own theater, in the skeleton of a beached whale, which provides a backdrop and a direction to their young lives.

When World War II breaks out, Cristabel and her siblings, now grown, find themselves in a more serious production: playing roles in the allied military effort. And they don’t know how this story ends. 

Quinn’s novel takes us from seaside England to occupied Paris, from the height of luxury to the horrors of war. “The Whalebone Theatre” was an instant best seller in the U.K., and a New York Times best seller. 

This week, on Big Books and Bold Ideas, she joined host Kerri Miller to talk about the insightfulness of children, how art helps us to recognize ourselves, and why — despite the glamour — she would 

To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above.

Subscribe to the MPR News with Kerri Miller podcast on 

for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.

Arts and Culture

The Thread® - Books and Literary News

Shows

Big Books & Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller

Host

Author

This week on Big Books and Bold Ideas, host Kerri Miller talks with the British author whose debut novel took England by storm. “The Whalebone Theatre” tells the story of three children who grow up on a posh seaside estate in the 1920s, and how their imaginations and familial bonds both anchor and inspire their lives. 

This week on Big Books and Bold Ideas, host Kerri Miller talks with Joanna Quinn, the British author whose debut novel took England by storm. “The Whalebone Theatre” tells the story of three children who grow up on a posh seaside estate in the 1920s, and how their imaginations and familial bonds both anchor and inspire their lives. 

Joanna Quinn on her best-selling novel 'The Whalebone Theatre'

A woman rests her head on her hand and poses next to a book

Joanna Quinn on her best-selling novel 'The Whalebone Theatre'

Go Deeper.

Like this?