Group Review: We concluded that this is a book of 'two halves': The first half following three children as they grow up an old English manor house by the sea, whilst grown-ups entertain party guests, and they create adventures themselves; the second half focuses on the children as 'grown ups' and their roles during WWII.
We felt that the novel was so much more than the publisher's note which suggested: "This is the story of a whale that washes up on a beach, whose bones are claimed by a twelve-year-old girl with big ambitions with an even bigger imagination."
The average score for this novel was 7.6/10
During the discussion the general consensus was that although the novel was too long, the descriptions were fantastic. Some parts of the novel reminded the group of The Next Moon by Andre Hue (July 2024)
A few of the many quotes which we shared at our meeting:
- "I knew EVERYTHING when I was twelve years old, and with each year of my life, I know a little less"
- "a single band of lemon light at the horizon, like a gap under a door"
- "without passion we are only machines"
- "she realises that for all she resents the unfair advantages of the opposite sex, she does not want to be a man, she only wants it not to matter that she is a woman"