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.

A quite intense story around the Porzellanmanufaktar Allach, a porcelain factory in Dachau about which I knew very little. The book mainly spans the period from 1925 to 1942 with sporadic dips into 1993 as Clara tries to find out the truth behind her father, Max, after the death of her mother, Bettina. Essentially a love story between German avant-garde artist Bettina and Jewish architect Max,, but which gets embroiled in WW2. Quite poignant, heartbreaking and emotional at times with many ups and downs. Interesting as it features a different aspect of the war during the Nazi regime.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC for this book.
You definitely need the tissues for this one. Historical fiction is one of my favourite genres, and this was an emotional book that kept me hooked throughout. Also, the ending was unexpected, and my heart broke for Bettina and Max. I did find their parts of the story more interesting than Clara as it reverts between just before WW2/during WW2 and 1993.
I did find it a little confusing at some points though as the POVs were mixed together so it was hard to keep sense of some aspects of the book but other than that, a historical book I do recommend.

THE PORCELAIN MAKER by Sarah Freethy
PUBLISHED DATE - 26 October 2023
FORMAT - BOOK - 383 pages
PUBLISHER - Simon & Schuster

I was looking forward to reading this novel. Historical books are not my choice of genre but I wanted to move out of my comfort zone. I was not disappointed!
This book is beautifully written, with well developed characters who are real. Chapters alternate between 1939 to 1993. Bettina, an artist & jewish meets Max, an architect, also jewish and there is an instant attraction. I do not want to say too much but suggest you read the book and be enthralled. This is a heartwarming, emotional rollercoaster of a read about betrayal, love and art.

I enjoyed this book. I would recommend and give a 4 star rating.

I WANT TO THANK NETGALLEY, THE AUTHOR AND SIMON & SCHUSTER FOR THE OPPORTUNITY OF READING AN ADVANCED COPY OF THIS BOOK IN RETURN FOR AN HONEST REVIEW

In 1993, Clara Vogel buys a number of pieces of porcelain at an auction in Cincinnati. Her purpose? She hopes that by tracing their provenance she will discover the identity of her father which has never been revealed by her mother. In 1925, Austrian Jew Max Erlich is in Dessau, Germany, in order to study architecture at The Bauhaus, the avant-garde art school. There he meets painter Bettina Vogel. Two timelines, one story, Clara’s desperate search alongside Max and Bettina‘s story which starts with a smile and ends with a gasp.

I really love the story of Max and Bettina, which begins with joyful optimism though by 1932 it’s clear the art and artists of the Bauhaus are increasingly under attack as “decadent”. Just for the record, I love the Bauhaus movement! The ups and downs of their love story are beautifully written, with palpable tension caused by the increasing danger around them , which ultimately takes them to Porzellanmanufaktar Allach at Dachau. These two characters are so likeable and it’s heartbreaking seeing the light and joy fade into darkness and desperate survival.

I really enjoy the Bauhaus/porcelain factory angle as I know little about the latter apart from the basics. The author has described them so vividly you can visualise them but it’s well worth looking them up as I have. Nazism in historical fiction is a well trodden path but this aspect gives readers something a bit different.

This is a poignant, touching, sad and heartbreaking story as you’d expect with love, betrayal and art lying at its core. It’s well paced, full of suspense, with characters to like and loathe making it hard a hard book to set aside. The two timelines fuse together smoothly and organically and it doesn’t feel forced.

Overall, a very promising and moving debut novel which I recommend to fans of historical fiction.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Simon and Schuster for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Not your usual story of Dachau concentration camp but of the work that the prisoners had to do alongside the camp.
Late 1920's Bettina is an artist whose work is frowned upon by the first Reich, Max,her lover, is a trained architect who also sculptures,
1993 Clara travels to America to purchase some porcelain figures that she hoped would release the secret that her mother Bettina never told her.
As carefully and beautifully written as Max's porcelain figurines this novel touches your heart. It's hard to believe that this is a debut novel. The back storyline and Clara's years counterbalance the horrors of the time. Its a story of betrayal, hardship but mostly love
I was gifted this advanced copy by Netgalley and Simon and Schuster UK with no obligation to leave my review

Max (an Austrian Jew) and Bettina (a German), meet and fall in love. Life is perfect but then, with the rise of the Weimar Republic, tensions rise and they flee for their safety. What follows next is a story of survival. This is a tale of love and loss, hope and despair and bravery in the face of adversity. This took me on a rollercoaster ride of emotion; I was sad to read the final page.
‘In the end, art and love are all we leave behind’
#netgalley #booktwitter #simonandschuster

I absolutely love historical fiction books but unfortunately I really did not enjoy this book. I found the plot weak and couldn’t engage with any of the characters.