The novel follows Cristabel and her siblings through the years, as they reach adulthood, and then through World War II. The reader testifies how the historical events that occurred between 1919 and 1945 they force the Seagrave brothers to play completely different roles than they were used to in Chilcombe.
Situated on the Dorset coast, Chilcombe is a manor house that has seen better days. In it live the Seagrave children, a small tribe led by the intrepid Cristabel, the eldest of the three brothers. The children grow up wild, nourished by the most absurd reading, overheard conversations and boring lessons from their governess.
On the day a whale washes up on shore near Chilcombe, Cristabel runs to reclaim her property. She along with Flossie and Digby will set up a theater in the animal’s giant frame, intended to delight the house’s regular visitors.
The years go by and the children’s lives go by happily, unaware of what is happening on the continent, where the heat of war is already perceptible. History knocks on their door and Cristabel, Flossie and Digby will be forced to play a role they never imagined. The three brothers will have to find a way to write their own story away from the warmth of home.
Joan Quinn was born in London and raised in Dorset in southwest England, where the film is set. The Seagrave Brothers Theater, his first novel, translated into more than a dozen languages. She has worked as a journalist and in various charities. She has also written several short stories published in The White Review yes Comma Print. She is currently teaching creative writing and lives in a seaside town in Dorset.
