“Undeniably loveable”: Queen Camilla raves about Dorset author's book
Joanna Quinn from Dorset has told us about her “surreal” encounter with The Queen
An author from Dorset has had her book praised by Queen Camila.
Joanna Quinn, from near Weymouth, finished writing the book during the 2020 lockdowns while home schooling her daughter, so she was shocked it even got published let alone recognised by the Queen.
She told us: “I never expected my book to be published to start with. It was amazing to think that she'd even read it let alone chosen to share it with her online audience.”
Queen Camilla dubbed The Whalebone Theatre as “undeniably lovable” and said she was “completely enchanted” by it.
Set between 1919 and 1945, the book follows the Seagraves, namely the three siblings on a quest to find their own adventures.
The family live in a big crumbling mansion on the Dorset coast but the three siblings end up having to fight in the Second World War.
Ms Quinn said it was “surreal” to receive that sort of praise: “It definitely got the book noticed for sure. She's Queen Camilla definitely a big reader and I think it's really nice that she's adopted reading and literacy as a cause she can get behind.”
She added: “I got invited to the Queen’s house to meet the queen and the king which was so nice and I also got to rub shoulders with other authors, so that was all very exciting.”
Joanna began writing the book as part of a creative writing PhD a decade ago and was writing it in ‘small chunks’ until she was approached by her old professor who said his agent was looking for stuff to read in lockdown.
Ms Quinn worked tirelessly to get the final fifth of the book completed and sent it off to the publishers.
The rest is history… The Whalebone Theatre was featured in Waterstone's ’books of the month’ for August.
It’s since been released in paperback and listed in The Queen's Reading Room book list and Jenna Bush Hager's book club.