I love a debut. And I especially love it when there are two POV that span over decades to see the vibrations of generational pain. It allows me to see the connections that happen that last from one person to another. In ‘present’ time, you have Clara who is seeking the truth about who her father was and all she has are some porcelain figurines. Flashing back to Nazi Germany are two young artists (Max and Bettina) who as an architect and painter find themselves fighting to survive..

I’ve read a lot of debuts and have visited Dachau’s concentration camp more than 10x when we lived in Germany. The book speaks to those horrors but also tries to maintain a forbidden love story within total destruction.

It was a good debut. I always feel weird saying I liked pieces that take place in those camps because it’s not the pain I want to experience as a reader, it’s that I never want to forget each persons voice. And that is why I will always read WWII HF or memoirs.. each book has a different spotlight and allows a voice to be heard.

Congrats on your debut

This is a beautifully written story. The story goes between WWII and 1993. It's intriguing and poignant. It is a little on the long side and was slow at times. It is a difficult subject, especially with things that are currently happening in the world. If you enjoy historical fiction, this is for you.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for advanced copy, and I give my review freely

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read The Porcelain Maker.
When Clara’s mother Bettina died, Clara thought the last chance to find out the truth about her father had died as well. Then a little known clearing house contacted her to let her know that a porcelain figurine, which she had put on a watch, had surfaced. The search for her father had now begun in ernest.
In the story by debut author, Sarah Freethy, we are plunged into pre WWII Europe following aspiring artist, Bettina and up-and-coming architect Max as their romance blossoms. Fast forward to 1993 Clara and her daughter Lotte try to put the pieces of Bettina’s life in order to once and for all determine who her father really was.
Told in dual timeline form this was a good effort, it kept me reading until the end were it seemed to be hastily put together. It left me with some questions of how the characters all came to be as told in the epilogue.

DNF at 60%. This story line was too slow for me. And realized at 60% that it wasn’t going any faster. While I wanted to see what the end was- 3 more hours just wasn’t what I wanted to give this book.

I did feel like it was beautifully written- but did feel the characters were a little underdeveloped.

Wow, what a heartbreaking, yet magnificently written book. The history, the detail, the drama - it was done so well. I both read and listened to this and I found both versions to be great. I was never confused, despite the different timelines and some different characters, but instead intrigued. I became devoted to the characters and their experiences and obsessed with the storyline. The topic is difficult, especially given current events, but still well done. Just be prepared for tears!
Thank you netgalley for my advanced copies.

Sarah Freethy’s The Porcelain Maker was a story that gripped me. This time split novel centers not only on love separated during the racial injustice of the Holocaust, but on a daughter’s search for a father she never knew. In this novel, we enter into the world of Dachau’s porcelain factory, as art becomes a defiant expression to a regime intent on imposing terror.
The plot of this story greatly intrigued me. However, I felt the story took too long to truly build. Nevertheless, the emotion pouring forth from the pages impressed upon my heart. The author skillfully delivered a soul clenching story that will not soon be forgotten.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publishers. I was not required to provide a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.

I loved this book. I really liked the telling of this story from two different sides of the war. It really makes you wonder how many adults may not know their history with so many families torn apart.

As a fan of historical fiction set in the WW2 era, this one gives you all the feels-hope, despair, love, hate. Set in Germany in the 1920s through 1946 as well as in London, Cincinnati and Munich in 1993, the story takes you on a journey of a daughter finding the truth of her parents love and heartbreak. Clara travels from London to Cincinnati to find porcelain animals that could lead her to discover who her father was because her mother, Bettina, never revealed him. In Bettina's story, we learn of her passion and talent for art and how it became labelled degenerative in the eyes of the Nazis. The dual time line thoughtfully reveals Bettina's life and loves through the years and how she had to make unimaginably difficulty decisions when the Nazis took over. She married an SS soldier to keep her daughter safe and worked with artisans and prisoners in Dachau to create the porcelain creatures that Himmler desired to be able to reconnect with her one true love.
At the end of the book, the author describes that some historical people and events were accurate but the main characters were fictional. She created characters that had depth and made you believe were real throughout the story. As I was reading I could feel the emotions from Clara and Bettina and how their decisions had an effect on others. You were taken into the art scene in the 20s and 30s and saw the growth of the characters. In Germany, especially Dachau, the reader understood the horror of the camp as respectfully as one can. I enjoyed the journey and would recommend this debut book especially if you are an fan of a variety of art forms. Check out the author's website for more information about the art, rabbits, music, etc. in the book.
#StMartinsPress #ThePorcelainMaker
Thank you St. Martins Press and Net Galley for a complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

Swoon. This book was very well done! An epic heart-wrenching journey about love, loyalty, bravery and courage told between two timelines coming masterfully together in the end.

Set in present day, Clara is a young woman tracing the identity of her father through the decades of time. She tries to understand his beginnings tracing his past through a single porcelain object. As she digs into his past she wrestles internally with some of her mother’s decisions.

Set in Germany during the start of the war there are two young lovers names Bettina and Max. They are both artists with a deep love for each other. Just as they feel they will be able to escape the war torn paths they get sucked in to the wrath of the Nazi’s. Max gets sent to a concentration camp and his ability and talents with porcelain is the only things that keeps him alive. Bound and determined to make it out alive and find Bettina, Max finds himself doing whatever it takes to stay under the radar of the Nazi’s prying eyes.

I am very shocked this was a debut novel. It was so well written with a unique point of view with the porcelain factory. I love how this author tied together past and present slowly throughout the book! I loved the mystery behind the relationship with Bettina and her daughter and why she was so tight lipped about her past. Don’t even get me started on the love story! So heartwarming! 💕 I am not sure I will ever tire of World War II stories and always love to see how authors find something unique to bring to a very saturated topic. Thank you again St. Martin Press for allowing me the chance to read this book!

What a beautiful yet heartbreaking story of love, strength, determination and loss. Max and Bettina were soul mates. They met while young and in college and fell in love. They were free spirited artists. Max was a Jew and it was getting dangerous during the Hitler regime. They decided they needed to leave to get somewhere safe. As with some good plans things do not go the right way and they separated. Max is put in prison. Being the artist that he is he was able to make art with clay and became known as the Porcelain Maker of Dachau. Unbeknown to Max, Bettina was pregnant with child. She did everything she could to keep herself and her unborn child safe.
After Bettina passed away her adult daughter, Clara get notified of an auction taking place with porcelain figures that she needs to get her hands on. After doing so, she realizes there was a lot her mother never told her about her life and the father she never met. She goes on a search with her own daughter to find out more about that life and time. This story goes back and forth from present time 1994 to 1925-1944. It is woven together and told beautifully by author Sarah Freethy. I highly recommend this book that will be sold on November 7th!
Thanks to #netgalley, #stmartinspress and @sarah.freethy for an ARC of the great story.

A debut novel with dual storylines. The earlier is set in 1929 Germany where Max Erlich and Bettina Vogel meet. He is a Jewish architect and she is a modern painter. It is a style that is not appreciated by the rising Nazi powers. Max is sent to Dachau where his artistic talents are of use at a porcelain factor. The second story line is in 1993. Bettina’s daughter Clara follows clues to learn about her father.

This reminded me a little of The Woman in the White Kimono (May 2019) which I read a couple of months ago with my bookclub. They both have dual storylines, wanting to know about a parents earlier life and war time happenings. I was interested in the outlook on art and having visited Dachau twice it was a touchpoint for me as well. I have never heard of the porcelain factory that is based on a real company that used labor from the camp. This is a harrowing story and in the beginning slowly told. It is as much a mother daughter story as it is a love story. I found the novel sad and haunting. I will recommend it for my book club but I know they’re a little weary of books of the time period. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC and I am leaving a voluntary review.

I am a big fan of WWII fiction, but this one was so slow and overly descriptive that it was difficult to focus on the story itself. Sadly, it was a DNF for me.

I love the cover.

This story about a daughter looking for the story behind the porcelain maker was beautifully written. While the daughter investigates the history of the porcelain artist, we are taken into the back story of her mother and father’s relationship which takes place during WWII and during the holocaust. Her parents were two lovers, both artists, one a German and one a Jew, who fell in love during a gruesome time in history and refused to let the situation separate them.

There were heartbreaking moments in the story and the tension was well done. I felt like I was rooting for them when the situations got dire. I enjoyed the idea behind the porcelain art. This story really broke my heart because I wasn’t expecting that outcome. This one will stay close to my heart for years to come.

3.5-4 stars
A love story between an artist and a Jewish architect/porcelain maker set in Nazi Germany. The story is told in two timelines, the present and the years leading up to and including WWII. The present revolves around the daughter of the artist, who is trying to find out what she can about her father since her mother refused to tell her anything about him. I enjoyed (hardly seems like the right word, given the subject matter) the part set during the war, but not so much the present timeline. It felt forced and unrealistic to me.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free e-Arc of this book.

I read a lot of WWII books, so I was surprised to find a part of the war I knew nothing about - the porcelain factory in Dachau, Germany. This story centers on a couple, Bettina and Max, as they navigate the increasing terror of the Nazi regime in the years leading up to WWII. The story intertwines with Clara in 1993 who is searching for porcelain figures made by the “porcelain maker” who she believes is her father.

The Bettina and Max storyline is heartbreaking and poignant as they try to sustain their love even with Max sent to a concentration camp at Dachau for being Jewish. Bettina is a strong woman who has to do the unthinkable to save her and her daughter. I had tears in my eyes as their story is one of terror and betrayal but also one of enduring love. I also enjoyed all of the references to art and sculpture, and the author does a great job at describing this in detail so you picture the works of art. I was invested in Clara’s story as well and was rooting for her and her feisty daughter.

The story is hard but the book is beautifully written. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC.

The novel The Porcelain Maker is a work of a historical fiction, one that will grab your attention and make it hard to put the book down. Set in and around the porcelain factory in Allach, Germany, it is the story of a particular family and how the Holocaust impacted their lives. Alternating between Clara and her daughter Lotte, in the 1990s, who are searching for Clara's father, whom her mother Bettina never spoke about, and historically accurate events with fictionalized details from the late 1930s to the early 1940s about Clara's parents, this novel demonstrates the ferocity with which the German people were torn apart. Occasionally hard to follow, as the alternation between times is not always consistent, but still gripping, this novel illustrates how even those who escaped the camps often paid horrible prices for their survival. and that those prices followed them for the rest of their lives, and often followed their children and grandchildren as well.

Appropriate for high school to adult; could be read with older middle school students if the novel is discussed while it is being read.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Porcelain Maker is an outstanding debut novel by Sarah Freethy. A story begun in 1929 comes to be revealed many, many years later as a daughter begins a journey to find the identity of her father along with her unknown roots. A beautiful, heartbreaking story of love, sacrifice, betrayal, and the horrors of the Nazism control during this tiem.

Told in dual timelines, the parts concerning Max and Bettina were vividly written so that you could feel their love, their art and later their despair. A story that gave insight in some parts of the Nazi rule, prejudice and cruel methods that was not as well known. Be sure to have a box of tissues handy, you will not want to stop reading to go retrieve them but you will need them.

An ARC of the book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley which I voluntarily chose to read and review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A beautiful and tragic story of love and the cost of being ‘other’ in WWII Germany. When all else fails, creative expression is used as a means of communication which bolsters and annihilates the spirit at once.
This was a heavy one at times, given the subject matter and the investment Freethy portrays in the writing of the characters. The plot is reminiscent of others but uniquely its own, depicting real life amidst a truly horrific period in history.
Fans of WWII stories such as ‘The Nightingale’ and ‘The Book of Lost Names’ will appreciate the depth and care that went into this one.

When I requested this book I was really looking forward to it, as historical fiction is my absolute favorite. I found the start to be very strong and interesting, however I quickly lost interest during the second half. I loved how it dealt with art during ww2, though. That was interesting

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the gifted ARC!

I really like it when historical fiction reads start in the present or recent history (in this case 1993, my birth year), and then go back in time (in this case 1929). It helps it feel more easily attainable to me if I can imagine at least one character in a period of time I've lived in, if that makes sense.

This was a very impressive debut and I really enjoyed it! I don't always love historical fiction, so when I really enjoy one, it gets me excited!

This was hard to read at time because of the heavy war themes (even harder in light of current events) so the time spent on the romance between Max and Bettina quickly became my favorite scenes.

While I enjoyed it overall, I do think it could have been trimmed down a little as it lagged at parts for me.

This would be fun to read/discuss with a bookclub, especially the ending!

This will be available for purchase on November 14th!