The Porcelain Maker is a dual timeline historical novel, split between the 1930s and 1990s, set mostly in Germany. It concerns the lives of talented German artist Bettina Vogel, and Austrian architect and sculptor Max Ehrlich who is Jewish. They meet while at art school and fall in love, but this is not a good time to be any kind of artist in Germany as the Nazis tighten their grip on all aspects of life and culture. Only with hindsight do we know how dangerous it would be to remain, but getting out was both difficult and expensive. Bettina and Max made plans to escape, but before they could get away Max was captured and sent to Dachau, and only his skills as a sculptor saved him from certain death.
The modern part of the story concerns Bettina’s daughter Clara and her search for the identity of her father. For some unfathomable reason, her mother refused to name him and would not discuss what happened all those years before. On a trip to America where some of the Allach porcelain figurines are up for auction, Clara discovers a photo that helps her get to the bottom of the mystery.
I was surprised to learn that the porcelain factory at Dachau actually existed as I had never come across if before. I am not normally a fan of fiction set during this period, but The Porcelain Maker has a slightly different emphasis than usual, and I enjoyed the focus on art rather than the horrors that took place at the camp. I was shocked and surprised how early in the decade, many years before the outbreak of war, the Nazis were controlling every aspect of life for their own nefarious and twisted ends.
The characters are well developed and believable, the art scene in Berlin in the 30s vividly evoked, and there is a good balance between the different timelines with neither overshadowing the other. Some aspects of the narrative were difficult to read, and the overwhelming atmosphere of tension and menace brought home to me what it must actually have been like to live through this period in history. The writing is very assured for a debut novel, the ending rounds it all off nicely, and I look forward to reading the next book by this writer. Thanks to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a digital copy to review.

I love a good world war 2 story and this certainly was a good one. Written from the angle of a Jewish man and a German woman I knew from the start this was going to be an emotional read. This book didn’t disappoint. Such a painful tale, but one full of love too.

Obviously this is, at its heart, a love story. Bettina and Max meet in the Germany of the 1930's. He is going to be an architect and she is a painter. They dream of the house Max will design for them and of being together for all of their lives. But the Nazis have other ideas because Max is a Jew.
They eventually see that they have no choice but to leave their beloved homeland. Bettina returns to her family; her hard and unlocking mother and her sadistic brother, Albrecht, who is now one of Hitler's bullying Brown shirts.
Max is now working at the porcelain factory in Dachau. They plan to leave but event conspire against them. Max is sent to Dachau as a prisoner and Bettina, who is carrying their child, feels forced to marry a Nazi officer to protect them.
In the 1990s Bettina's daughter, Clara and her daughter, Lotte, are searching for information about Clara's father. Bettina has never told her his name, referring to him only as The Porcelain Maker.if Dachau.
This is a real page turner. A story of such love and bravery but also brutal and heart breaking.
The one line that stood out was that the only thing we can leave behind is set and love.

An interesting look at life for an artist in Germany in WW2. Max and Bettina and their friends enjoy the freedom of the Bauhaus art scene before the war and then the Nazis take over and start classifying art as degenerate or acceptable. Max is Jewish so he is arrested and sent to Dachau, but Bettina finds a way into Nazi society and becomes a celebrated artist apparently conforming to the accepted way. She finds a way back to Max, and together they continue to work on a project that appears to conform to the Nazi way. The modern part of the story is of Clara, Bettina's daughter, who is trying to find who her father was. Good story, well written, but we never really understand why Bettina couldn't tell Clara who her father was

A dual timeline piece of historical fiction from this author, I was drawn in by the cover and the subject matter. A daughter in a quest to discover more about her family and particularly her father, follows a possible lead to an auction house in Cincinnati where a porcelain figure is up for auction. This purchase leads the reader to travel back in time to a flourishing art community in pre WW2 Germany. As war approaches, a romance blossoms between Max and Bettina, life becomes more restrictive and they have to take necessary steps in order to survive using any skills they have.

Hmm not sure what to say really, I wasn’t as gripped by the storyline as I thought I’d be, I didn’t feel a connection to the characters. The subject matter obviously makes this a challenging read but it’s dealt with in a sympathetic way.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publishers for a gifted copy of this book.

In this book we 1st meet Lcara, as she travels to an Auction in America, where she bids on some porcelain figures. We then follow her journey as she tried to find the artist. The Porcelain Maker of Dachau, who she believes is the father she has never met.

Clara was brought up by her mother and nanny Heida, her mother never spoke about her father and Heida kept that secret too. Following her divorce and the death of her mother Clara finds herself wanting answers. Along with her daughter Lotte she begins to investigate and finds herself back in Germany at the concentration camp, porcelain factory of Dachau

This story is told in the viewpoints of Clara as she searches for answers and Bettina (her mother) and Max (her true father)

Although I have enjoyed this story, there were times where I felt it dragged and it took me longer to finish than I would have liked.
That said the story is brilliant. I haven’t read anything from this author before and am keen to discover more from her.

This is a heartbreaking and immersive read which I found I could not put down. It’s such a moving story of love, betrayal with some suspense - all the reasons for me to keep turning the pages.

The Porcelain Maker is based around a beautiful German artist Bettina and Jewish architect Max Erlich who fell in love at a party.

As the second world war came into play and the Nazis take hold the couple is separated and Bettina is forced to make difficult decisions about her future.

The story is picked up as her daughter Clara seeks to find out more about her mother's past, after she hints at the identity of her father on her death bed. Believing that the answers may lie in her mother's treasured porcelain collection, Clara and herdaughter Lotte go on a journeyto find out more.

This is historical fiction based on the experiences of prisoners at the Dachau concentration camp, where many were set to work making porcelain figures for Himmler as Nazi propaganda. A fascinating and gripping story, showing another side to this harrowing time.

I liked this for the story at its heart - a tale of love between two very memorable characters. It kept me reading as the porcelain factory was a new element that sets it aside from other books set at the same time. It's definitely one I'd recommend and would make a great book club choice.

Fantastic historical fiction book which will stay with me long after I have finished it. It’s a must read for fans of The Nightingale and The Tattooist of Auschwitz. A heartbreaking and emotional read which fans of the historical fiction genre will love!

A wonderful story telling you about the Allach porcelain factory which I did not know about.

Max an Austrian Jew and Bettina a German meet at a party and you can tell their instant attraction. We see what happens to them over the years. The unrest in Germany does not help them. Eventually Max is arrested and sent to Dachau. Bettina does not know what has happened. We see over the years what happens to the two of them. Will they find each other.

This book was excellent and found the information about Allach really interesting and what happened to those poor souls in the concentration camp. The characters worked well together.

Would recommend this book.

At the heart of this book is the love story between Max and Bettina set in the Germany of 1925-42. The history of this period is well documented but I didn’t know about the porcelain factory at Dachau. The dual timeline helps the development of the story to its almost inevitable conclusion. An excellent debut novel which I recommend.

This book is different take on a WW2 inspired story. I loved this story. The author is a brilliant writer and always creates full and interesting characters. It was very sad in places but the two time lines involving Bettina and Clara wove together beautifully.

Book Review & recommendation
Title: The Porcelain Maker
Author: Sarah Freethy
Publisher: ST Martin’s Press
Publication Date: 7th November 2023
Thank you #netgallery for an ecopy of this book.
In this debut novel, introduced to the 1990s timeline, we meet Clara whose mom Bettina died 3 years previously. Clara with the help of her artistic daughter go in search of Clara’s father’s identity. Clara’s journey takes her from the UK to Cincinnati to attend an auction to purchase porcelain pieces that she believes will help her find answers to her father’s identity.
In a dual timeline we are transported to Germany 1925 where we meet the brilliant German artist Bettina Vogel, (Clara’s Mom), and the talented Austrian Jew architect Max Ehrlick.. Max and Bettina meet and fall in love. As Nazi Germany imposes more restrictions and increasing dangers to Bettina & Max’s relationship, with the enlisted help of friends they flee to Bavaria. Max gets captured and sent to Dachau to work on creating the most exquisite pieces of Decorative Allach Porcelain which were much sought after by the upper echelons of the Nazi regime. Meantime Bettina's original artistic style conflicts with the Nazi’s ideals of that time, and she moderates her style to gain access to and hope of seeing Max again.
I very much enjoyed this book. This is ultimately a love story. The chances and choices that Bettina and Max take and make for their love had me on the edge of my seat, with both hope and fear in my heart. I was particularly enchanted by how Bettina & Max used their artistic gifts to communicate with each other. Of equal interests was their covert artistic attempts to convey to the outside world the horrors of Dachau. I found the pace stimulating and how the characters developed throughout the war period was beautifully captured. There were many secondary characters, some that showed hate and cruelty and many that showed the risks and hope that comes with true friendships.
If you enjoy suspenseful love stories, set during WWII and you have an interest in how art can be used to convey the emotional turmoil of that time, I would highly recommend this book. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

I enjoyed reading this book.

Max, is a Jew, and Bettina is a German. They fall in love and things are going well for them, but when situations change, they are forced to leave their home, to keep safe.

Now, as the story continues, they find ways to live, and get by, faced with loss, worries, but above all hope.

Reading this, you felt every emotion, and the ending wasn’t what I expected.

I recommend this book.

The Porcelain Maker by Sarah Freethy
Germany, 1929.
When Max, a Jewish architect, and Bettina, a beautiful and celebrated German avant-garde artist, meet at a party their attraction is instant. In love with each other and the art they create, their talent transports them to the dazzling lights of Berlin. But Germany is on the brink of terrible change, and their bright beginning is soon dimmed by the rising threat of Nazism.
The couple seen to have it all , but Max is taken to a concentration camps , Dachau he is taken from Bettina and surely death will follow. Thankfully his skill spares him and he is given work .
Will Max & Bettina ever see each other again ?

Many years later Clara who is Bettinas daughter sets out to find out about her mother's past and the secrets she kept and how that has impacted Claras life so far.
I was gripped by this book and enjoyed the characters in both timelines , heartbreaking and a great telling of this shocking time .

What a superb story! I wasn’t aware of Allach porcelain or the story behind it, this has sent me off in all directions to learn more about it.

The book itself is an excellent read about the hardships of war, loss, love and the extreme suffering of those who endured it. Although parts are very sad, the ending is uplifting and it’s a story that will stay with me for a long time. Thoroughly recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley the author and publishers for an arc in exchange for an honest review

I found this book a bit heavy going for me unfortunately, maybe more of a winter read than a summer one! It was quite hard hitting in places, I enjoyed the dual timeline aspect

I've just read

The Porcelain Maker by Sarah Freethy. Now I feel I need to convalesce. It must have been draining to write it - and so well, with so much humanity.
It starts so blandly with a nondescript auction house but takes you to Berlin and then a barely living hell that is 1930s Germany.

I'd never heard of a German porcelain factory which was incorporated into Dasshaue. How prisoners provided hard labour to enable designs to be made to show reinforce the Hitler ideal were made.
This is set within a lifelong love story. An avant guard " Degenerate" artist Bettina and her architect lover - who happens to be an Austrian jew. Both are likeable and real-feeling characters

Add this historical journey and desperate love story to such a glossy, perfect wealthy life plus fascinating fashion and art detail and processes of porcelain making and the shift in time being so well done isn't annoying.
Ive not enjoyed and admired a book this much in a long time. Probably not since Victoria Hislop's The Island. It's quite unlike but every bit as gripping

Oh Wow!! I can't believe this is a debut novel! I was hooked and reeled in from chapter one. It's a dual timeline with the 1990's as the present story and just before and during the early days of World War II. We also get an epilogue, which I love.
Bettina and Max are the main characters and are really likable. They meet in Munich before the war. Max is an architect and Bettina is an artist. They move in together and are loving life, but this is mid to late thirties and already a black cloud is hovering over Germany and it's people. Max is Jewish and this makes things even harder for the couple. With the help of good friends they decide to escape but not all goes to plan.
What follows is the heartbreak of being apart, of Max's life in Dachau and of a decision Bettina makes that she really had no choice about.
There is quite a bit about art and porcelain making but done in a very interesting way. I learned a lot about the factory in Dachau. Overall though this is a love story, not just between a man and a woman but a love story of the arts and crafts.
There's tremendous sadness throughout the book and however many times I read about the Nazis treatment of prisoners and indeed ordinary people, it still makes my blood boil. It still baffles me beyond belief how they could carry out the horrors they did while still claiming to be human beings.
When I wasn't reading the book, I was thinking about it. When I finished it I sat for a while and contemplated what I had just read.
I can't recommend this book highly enough, especially to people who love books set in the war years and may be a bit weary of them because while still in the genre, it tells the story from a different angle. The ending kind of haunts me!
Definitely looking forward to more books by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for an early copy of this book to read.