Author:Len Deighton
'A superb novel ... you will be hooked from the first chapter and enjoy every line' Sunday Express
Deep in the South American jungle the MAMista Marxist revolutionaries are fighting a hopeless, protracted war against a dictator - while the CIA see an opportunity. Amid the turmoil, three very different people - a doctor, a young firebrand and an educated revolutionary - find themselves thrown together and trapped at the heart of a battle where the enemy is uncertain, and there can be no winners. Len Deighton's first post-Cold War novel is a chilling and compelling story of revolution and betrayal.
'Moral ambiguity used to be called Greeneland. Since Graham Greene's death, at least part of it ought to be renamed Deightonsville' Time Magazine
Deighton's longest, most complex and passionate novel in years: an epic tale, set in a South American jungle, of good men and women crushed beneath the heel of Realpolitik.
—— Kirkus ReviewYou will be hooked from the first chapter and enjoy every line ... The Berlin Wall may have tumbled, destroying overnight a whole spy cottage industry, but as the dust settles Len Deighton rises like the phoenix ... a superb novel.
—— Bryan Forbes , Sunday ExpressMoral ambiguity used to be called Greeneland. Since Graham Greene's death, that territory is open for conquest. At least part of it ought to be renamed Deightonsville.
—— TIMEAbsorbing and bloody
—— Antonia SeniorPeopled with characters so finely honed the story becomes a gripping and glorious legend. Brilliant!
—— Weekend SportBreathes new life into the darkest and most dramatic of times
—— StarI was swept away by this compelling, beautifully written debut and its plucky heroine
—— Good HousekeepingOne of those big chunky stories that swallows you whole - and it's beautifully written too
—— The TimesWritten with heart and humour
—— Psychologies[A] brilliant debut ... A truly immersive read. The plot unfolds gradually, allowing you to really connect with the characters, all of whom are very real with their fears and foibles ... Fascinating
—— Dorset MagazineA pedigree stretching from Charles Dickens to Lemony Snicket ... What's remarkable, especially for a first novel, is her deft way of depicting this lost world - whether a subsiding seaside aristocracy or a training school for British agents or a Parisian theater in wartime - convincingly enough to let us see it simply as a setting for the unfolding drama. Her vision is so fine and fully realized that it's hard to imagine her doing anything else - and hard to have to wait to see what that might be
—— Washington PostThis is a book that will be loved unreasonably and life-long
—— Francis Spufford, author of 'Light Perpetual'Utterly captivating ... Written with great heart, humour and humanity, it's the kind of book you want to escape normal life to read at every available opportunity.
—— Elizabeth Day, author of MagpieThe Whalebone Theatre has all the makings of a classic. And Cristabel Seagrave is the most gratifying hero. The war scenes often left me breathless: they are as good as you will ever read. A wonderful debut. Actually, a tour de force'
—— Sarah Winman, Author of Still LifeSo immersive and joyous and glorious. I was completely entranced
—— Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of Write It All DownQuinn's story passes like a fabulous pageant, richly coloured and packed with incident, taking us from the lonely and unorthodox Dorset childhood of the extraordinary Christabel to the poignant aftermath of her heroic Second World War. Quinn has a sublime touch: Cristabel and her troupe are unforgettable, as riotous in comedy as they are heart-breaking in tragedy'
—— Frances Liardet, author of We Must Be BraveMagnificent. As capacious, surprising and magical as the whale that lends its bones to Cristabel's theatre: a tale of intertwined lives and braided fates as deftly managed and heartbreaking as a Dickens' novel.
—— Rebecca Stott, Costa-winning author of The Days of RainBreathes fresh, bracing air into the lungs of the multi-generational saga - and the very form of the novel itself. Few people writing today can match Quinn for the energy and precision of her prose...
—— Susan Elderkin, author of The Story Cure: An A-Z of Books to Keep Kids Happy, Healthy and WiseI defy any reader not to fall in love... it transported me wholesale to another time and place and while I wandered its pages, I forgot the world for a while
—— Wyl Menmuir, author of Fox FiresUtterly heart-breaking and joyous ... I just disappeared into THE WHALEBONE THEATRE and didn't want to leave
—— Jo Baker, author of LongbournQuite simply brilliant ... The kind of story you sink into, getting totally wrapped up in the characters and their world ... The Whalebone Theatre is a book to treasure
—— Well Read with Anna Bonnet, My Favourite Books of 2022Far and away my favourite novel of the year ... A gorgeous book, following the lives of three half-siblings from the '20s and through World War II, the same canvas Kate Atkinson has used to such great effect. Love, grief and comedy in perfect balance: it's hard to believe that this accomplished novel comes from a first-timer
—— Mick HerronDeservedly a surprise bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic ... Absorbing the best parts of Kate Atkinson, Evelyn Waugh and Elizabeth Jane Howard, this is a book to sink into and be propelled along by its brilliant storytelling. Few debuts have been as assured as this; Quinn is a frighteningly talented writer
—— The New EuropeanElegantly written and totally immersive. Helmed by fierce, imaginative Cristabel, it follows the fate and fortune of the three Seagrave siblings as they stage a theatrical production in their crumbling Dorset manor, and cope with the darkness of World War II and the long shadow it casts over their ramshackle, but golden, childhoods
—— Daily Mail, the best of the year's novelsFor all the novel's satirical tang and historical sweep, it's at root a tender portrait of apparently simple folk trying to fathom the mystery of their own personalities
—— SpectatorA tender portrayal of the state of the nation through the prism of family relationships
—— Woman & HomeThere is much to enjoy here, as in all Coe's novels . . . an intelligent criticism of our shared history since 1945
—— Scotsman[Coe] has a huge talent for balancing humour with poignancy
—— Book of the month, Good HousekeepingSimultaneously intimate and transnational . . . this is deeply engaging, serious and beautiful writing that carries its echoing questions with grace
—— Irish TimesCompelling . . . Superb characterisation and sharp insights throughout make this an immensely enjoyable novel
—— Daily MirrorIntelligent and enthralling
—— ScotsmanThe Magician, Colm Tóibín's new novel about Mann, resists the shallow gestures of Hollywood biopics, reaching for something mainstream film couldn't get at, or wouldn't bother with. How does an artist create, and can a true artist live as the rest of us do?
—— Rumaan Alam , VultureThis meticulously woven novel re-creates the life of Thomas Mann . . . An ode to a 20th-century genius and a feat of literary sorcery in its own right
—— Oprah MagazineThe personal and public history is compelling . . . an intriguing view of a writer who well deserves another turn on the literary stage
—— Kirkus Reviews, starred review[The Magician] vibrates with the strength of Mann's visions and the sublimity of Tóibín's mellifluous prose. Tóibín has surpassed himself
—— Publishers Weekly, starred reviewThis vibrates with the strength of Mann's visions and the sublimity of Tóibín's mellifluous prose. Tóibín has surpassed himself
—— Publishing NewsCompelling . . . Tóibín succeeds in conveying his fascination with the Magician, as his children called him, who could make sexual secrets vanish beneath a rich surface life of family and uncommon art . . . intriguing
—— Kirkus Reviews, starred reviewEmploying luxurious prose that quietly evokes the tortured soul behind these literary masterpieces, Tóibín has an unequalled gift for mapping the interior of genius
—— Booklist, starred reviewLiterary lovers will want to sink into this absorbing reimagining of the life of the Nobel Prize-winning German writer Thomas Mann . . . Mann family members have their own struggles - with each other and a world where they rarely feel at home - all vividly brought to life
—— AARPYou don't have to be a Thomas Mann fan to be gripped by the account of his life that author Colm Tóibín delivers in his new novel . . . [Tóibín's] his biggest triumph is in getting to the heart of Mann's dilemma
—— Seattle TimesA celebration of what novels can do
—— Observer on ‘House of Names’Devastatingly human . . . savage, sordid and hauntingly believable
—— Guardian on 'House of Names'Tremendous, richly beautiful, wonderful . . . it does everything we ought to ask of a great novel
—— Tessa Hadley, Guardian, on ‘Nora Webster’Subtle and enthralling
—— Sunday Times, on ‘Nora Webster’