Is January 9 too soon to declare a favorite book of the year? Joanna Quinn's sweeping novel will certainly be high on my list for 2023.
Christabel Seagrave, her stepsister Flossie, and her cousin Digby (who is Flossie's stepbrother) grow up at Chilcombe, their family's crumbling manor in the Dorset countryside. The adults (parents, a stepmother, and an uncle/father/stepfather in one, as well as a couple of permanent houseguests) leave them largely to their own devices though the servants (cook, butler, maid, and governess) look out for them.
In 1928 when Christabel is 12 a whale washes up on the shore. She claims it and uses the bones to create a theatre on the lawn. Over a decade she stages many plays (mostly Shakespeare) with Flossie, Digby, the adults, and the servants among the repertory company.
When World War II begins Digby enlists in the Army and is sent to Africa. Christabel joins the Special Operations Executive, the secretive intelligence division on the ground in Occupied France. Flossie joins the Land Army and keeps Chilcombe going as a working farm.Who can Christabel trust in those dangerous days of 1944 when a misspoken word or even a glance can break the most carefully-constructed cover? In the end it is those whom she has known the longest and loved the most. The Seagrave siblings are forever bound to one another.
P.S. Kudos to publisher Knopf for retaining British spelling (theatre, colour, favourite, etc.)
P.S. 2 p. 125: "Their most-loved books have been read so many times, they only have to look at the covers to know how it feels to be enclosed within them. But the worlds contained within the books do not remain between the covers. They seep out and overlay the geography of their lives."
I will look for this book. Thanks for the recommendation.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this is a wonderful book! I also read it at the beginning of the year, but expect it to be on my list of favorites when the year is over.
ReplyDelete