“Things have to change soon, I’m sure of it. The pendulum will swing the other way. Every generation thinks they’re living through uniquely terrible times.”

Well, here’s another example of a piece of WWII history I knew nothing about. This story, by debut author Sarah Freethy, is full of the atrocities you know about, and the bravery and tenacity of the Jewish men and women and those non-Jews who loved them.

I was googling images of the porcelain figurines to see the art that was created by the porcelain maker (Max). It is fascinating to see the items.

Rating
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25

Read if you like:
WWII historical fiction
Alternating timelines
Debut authors

Thank you St Martins Press for an ARC and finished copy and MacMillan Audio for an ALC.

touching love story that spans decades and focuses on a piece of art. Beauty can arise anywhere and anytime.

3 1/2 stars rounded up

This story is set in two timelines.

The first is Set in WWII Germany, two artists are in love. There’s just one problem- Max is Jewish in a time when that is dangerous. He is arrested and sent to Dachau where he begins to work in the porcelain factory. Bettina discovers this when one of his pieces matches a painting only he would know about. With Bettina’s ties to the German police, she is able to find a way to spend some time with him. She risks her life and her daughter’s safety to be with the man she loves.

In 1993 Clara is trying to understand her mother and figure out the identity of her father, and all she knows is that he was a porcelain maker of a certain type of porcelain.

Overall a tragic story and I appreciated learning something new about WWII Germany in regards to the Allach porcelain factory. I didn’t actually like Bettina very much, so while I was rooting for her and Max, it was mostly for Max’s sake, as I did love his character.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

For a debut novel, this was impressive. I knew nothing about the Allach porcelain factory housed in the Dachau concentration camp during WWII. The author managed to create a sweeping dual time period story that tugged on the heart strings and brought to life an often overlooked aspect of WWII.

Bettina and Max were endearing characters who despite guessing the outcome you really wanted to see succeed. They’re two artists studying at the Bauhaus modern art school in 1929 Germany. Max is a talented Austrian Jewish architect while Bettina is a celebrated, innovative painter. They’re surrounded by decadent, bohemian culture and those on the edge of society. They fall deeply in love almost immediately after meeting at a party. Together they weather the most difficult hardships, as Hitler rises in power and suddenly the art they’ve created is deemed “degenerate.”

Because Max is Jewish he’s constantly in danger. One evening, he’s kidnapped only to arrive at Dachau where his talent for creating beautiful porcelain is the one thing keeping him alive. Without Max, Bettina is forced to make an impossible choice. When she finds Max again in the concentration camp, she hatches a plan to rescue him. Will she succeed?

In 1993, Clara is on a mission to find her father. Her mother kept his identity a secret from her until on her deathbed she reveals he was a porcelain maker near Dachau. This starts her quest to discover the truth and why her mother kept him a secret for so long.

I was completely engaged in this story and found it hard to put down. There was palpable tension throughout with everyone seemingly walking on a tightrope not knowing if the art they created or secrets they harbored would get them killed. It’s hard to reconcile the dichotomy of beautiful porcelain figurines with the horrors of WWII. I felt for Clara and her mission to learn more about her father. The reasons the truth was kept from her are still hard to understand. The history was fascinating and I ended up looking up the Bauhaus Movement and the Allach porcelain factory established by Himmler in Dachau. I really wish the author had included a note at the end explaining the history and research behind her story.

Sensitive readers should know there’s a somewhat descriptive love scene near the beginning that can easily be skipped. There’re also some language, mention of brief nudity, descriptions of a miscarriage, and violence that may be disturbing to some readers. All in all, a thought provoking, well written debut novel. I received an advanced complimentary copy from the publisher. All opinions are my own and voluntarily provided.

I absolutely loved and adored this book and its characters. It was an emotional read, but one that I enjoyed so very much. The story is told beautifully through the writing, and the characters drew me in from the beginning. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this beautifully written story.

The Porcelain Maker by Sarah Freethy
#netgalley published 11/7/23
#stmartinspress
#historicalfiction

When I chose this arc, I thought it sounded like a different type of story about ww2. I figured I'd give it a try. But the build up of the story took too long for me. I'm sorry if this is going to be a SPOILER BUT... It took more than half the book for the Jewish character of the book to end up in the concentration/labor camp. We all knew it was inevitable. It just took too long to get there.

The story begins at an auction in 1993 with a woman purchasing The Viking ceramic piece along with others by the same artist. Apparently, the artist is her father. And she doesn't know who he was. Then the story jumps to the beginning of her parent's love story, back in 1925. SF carries the 2 timelines from there.

I wanted to like this book more. I just didn't have the pull to come back to read it. But I must say that the one paragraph where SF describes Clara's experience in the room with the ovens replicates the same experience that I had when I was in the Dachau memorial in 1984. That was about 75% and I was finally drawn into the book. I'm not too sure if I would read another book by this author or not.

#romance
#theporcelainmaker
#bookstagram #booknerdsbookreview #bookreview

This is touching love story that unfolds during the years of WWII. It is also a tribute to the powerful ways art can affect the human spirit. I really enjoyed the chemistry shared between the two main characters.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me early access to the ARC ebook edition of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book is well-written with very sympathetic characters. It shows a different view of pre-WW2 Germany than what I was familiar with, detailing both restrictions imposed by the German government and resistance by some German citizens. It is a very sad and tragic story, and the characters are so real that I had to finish even though I suspected that the ending would be sad. The story was powerful and engrossing.

I love a dual timeline WWII story- this seems like a niche reading request, but it seems this format has become buzzy over the last few years. The Porcelain Maker managed to do something that not every author can pull off by making both timelines equally engaging. Max and Bettina are obviously easy to root for given their circumstances, and enough is left murky that Clara's timeline is intriguing too. Five stars and thank you for the chance to read this ARC!!

I had higher hopes for this book. I felt a little disappointed. I thought the story started strong and kind of fell flat. The characters were wrote well but had no development in my opinion

Interesting and well-written historical fiction.

The story is based around the Allach Porcelain Factory. A factory that the Germans used to create whimsical figures to keep everyone happy and motivated during the war. They used labor from concentration camps.

We learn all about the factory through the love story of Bettina and Max. We follow Bettina and Max in the early days of the war. We also follow Bettina’s daughter, Claire, who in 1993 is searching to find out more about her father. All she has to go on, is a figurine that her mother had.

Told through two timelines, during the war and in 1993, the heartbreaking story unfolds. Sometimes dual timelines can be confusing, but this was very easy to follow.

I enjoyed this book, reading about the resiliency of humans, what we do to survive, and what we do for love. And, like all good historical fiction, I immediately went searching to find out everything I could surrounding the real-life story behind the book.

This book was quite a different perspective from my usual reading about WWII. I was intrigued by the premise of the book, about some kind of bizarre beauty comping from the war. But I was also a bit apprehensive, mostly because I thought it might be graphic about what happened in the Nazi prison camps. It was not. However, neither was it as compelling as I had hoped. I honestly don't know why, but it never captured my interest, but I did finish it.

I would like to thank NetGallery, the author and the publisher for an ARC of this to review.

Pub date: 11/7/23
Genre: WWII historical fiction
Quick summary: In pre-war Germany, painter Bettina falls in love with Jewish architect Max, risking everything to save him when he is sent to Dachau. Almost 70 years later, Bettina's granddaughter Clara traces her grandmother's past through porcelain.

I love historical fiction because it makes me feel connected to other time periods, as well as people living lives very different from mine. I loved the idea of the porcelain sparking Clara's interest in her family's past; the concept felt unique amid the large amount of WWII historical fiction. I also enjoyed the plot points surrounding Clara's painting - she went from being accused of creating "degenerate art" to becoming an artistic darling of the regime. Unfortunately, I didn't feel a strong connection to the characters, which made it difficult to fully immerse myself in this book.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for my e-ARC and Macmillan Audio for my ALC in exchange for an honest review.

The Porcelain Maker was captivating, heartbreaking and riveting. It was Sarah Freethy’s debut novel and it was written beautifully. Sarah Freethy took the liberty to explore an aspect about World War II and the Holocaust that I had not known about nor read about prior to reading her book. She chose to scaffold her story around a porcelain factory that was located within the Nazi concentration camp of Dachau. It was the inspiration for her book. The Porcelain Maker alternated seamlessly between two different timelines, 1929 through the years of World War II and the Holocaust and the 1990’s. The characters were well imagined and believable. It was well plotted, tugged at all my emotions and was hard to put down.

Max and Bettina met in 1929. Their romance was beautiful. They had both fallen in love with each other. Uncharacteristically for that time period, Max and Bettina lived together but were not married. It worked for them. They had moved to Berlin to be in a busy city that offered galleries, other fellow artists and opportunities for Max to use his architectural expertise. With the rise of the Nazi Party, Max’s and Bettina’s lives became impacted by restrictions, regulations and shortages. Even with all the precautions both Max and Bettina took, it was inevitable that eventually Max was arrested. He was sent to the Nazi concentration camp in Dachau. Luckily for Max, his talents as an artist were discovered and he was assigned to work in the porcelain factory. Working there saved Max from a much harsher existence there. When Bettina finally learned about Max’s fate she was determined to find a way to see him. Would Bettina be able to devise a feasible plan to see Max? Could she help Max escape from Dashau concentration camp so they could find a place to live together as a family without the threat of the Nazis finding them?

In the 1990’s, Bettina’s only daughter, Clara, had recently lost her mother. While growing up, Clara, longed to know who her father was. Her mother, Bettina, refused to speak about it. The subject evoked so many emotions from Bettina that eventually Clara gave up asking but those thoughts were never far away from her mind. After Bettina’s death, Clara and her daughter Lotte set off on a mission to find the answers Clara longed to learn. Clara discovered a link between one of her mother’s most celebrated and renowned paintings that was titled The Viking and a porcelain factory in Dachau, Germany. With little hesitation, Clara and her daughter Lotte, set off for Germany. Would those two discoveries be enough to lead them on a path towards solving the mystery of who Clara’s father was and why Bettina refused to share that information with Clara? Can Clara and Lotte reveal the secrets Bettina kept hidden from both Clara and Lotte and that they longed to learn?

Although I realized early on that this story would not have a happy ending, I found that I could not pull myself away from it. Sarah Freethy was brilliant in her storytelling. She combined just enough fact with fiction to make her debut novel an enjoyable read. I admired the strength and non conformity that Bettina exhibited in her earlier years as an artist and then the bravery, hope and protectiveness she showed later in her life. The romance and love that Bettina and Max shared was beautiful and believable. I learned a great deal about the art that was prevalent during that time and the type of art that the Nazis chose to represent their regime and ideals. I never knew that a porcelain factory existed amongst all the horrors that were occurring at the concentration camp at Dachau. What a sharp contrast that factory portrayed compared to the atrocities that were being committed by the Nazis in the concentration camp! The Porcelain Maker focused on the themes of love, friendship, family, commitment, survival, art, devotion, sacrifice, loss, dangers, bravery, hope and resilience. I enjoyed reading The Porcelain Maker by Sarah Freethy and look forward to reading more books by her. I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to listen to The Porcelain Maker by Sarah Freethy through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A story woven through the historical and romantic, both past and present. A daughter on the search for a father she didn't know and a tale of her parents romance through a war torn time filled with danger and heartbreak. The search is done through porcelain figurines and the stories of a rich past that they bring to the present day. A beautifully written novel where wealth is not portrayed in money but emotions.

Thank you Netgalley for this arc

The Porcelain Maker dropped me into the story of Bettina and Max, two young artists madly in love living in Germany at the beginning of the Nazi rise in power. Their lives are changed forever when Max is sent to Dachau for being a Jew. Their story is told concurrently with that of Bettina’s daughter, Clara, many years later trying to learn the identity of her “real” father. Through the investigative efforts of Clara, the reader learns more about the lives of Bettina and Max, two star crossed lovers.
The influence of art throughout this story brought a new dimension different from the many books I have read with the same setting. The story of Bettina’s painting of The Viking was interesting but more than that the connection to Max’s sculpture and the repercussions of this connection w made this a read I could not put down.
Many many thanks to Sarah Freethy, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for affording me the pleasure of reading an arc of this compelling read published on November 7th. Looking forward to more from Sarah Freethy.

So many of the books that deal with WWII are described as absolutely heartbreaking that I often ignore those words. Sometimes a book comes along, however, that merits that description. The Porcelain Maker is one of those books. Written as a dual timeline, it is the story of the love between Bettina, a German art student, and Max, a Jewish artist from Vienna, in the 1940s. It is also the story of Bettina’s daughter Clara and her search for the identity of her father in the 1990s. The German laws made marriage unlawful for Bettina and Max. Although they talked about leaving Germany, the decision was left until it was too late. Living under a false identity, Max was employed in a porcelain factory until his identity was discovered and he was sent to Dachau.

Clara grew up believing that her father was a Nazi officer. When Max disappeared, Bettina was pregnant with their child. Her only chance of keeping her child was to accept the officer’s proposal. When Clara discovers the lie, she is determined to find the truth. Her only clues are the porcelain figures created at the factory near Dachau that used prisoners in their manufacturing facility. Bettina always refused to talk about her past, but discovering the truth gives Clara an understanding of her mother’s grief and the decisions that she made. Sarah Freethy’s love story is an emotional one. While her story includes scenes of the brutal treatment of Dachau’s prisoners, it is also a story that reminds you of the people who resisted the Nazis and demonstrated their compassion. There are moments of joy and moments of sorrow that are guaranteed to bring tears. This is a story that will stay with you long after the last page is read. I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing this book for my review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

I didn’t get to finish this story but what I was able to get through was absolutely beautiful! I definitely plan to pick it up again when I have more free time!

"The Porcelain Maker" is a historical novel set against the backdrop of Germany in the years leading up to and during World War II. With a dual timeline, the narrative weaves between the love story of Max and Bettina in 1929 Weimar and the quest of Clara, Bettina's daughter, to uncover the secrets of her heritage in 1993 America and Europe.

The strength of the novel lies in its vivid portrayal of a bygone era, capturing the bohemian spirit of Weimar Germany and the ominous rise of Nazism. The author immerses the reader in the world of Max, a talented Jewish architect, and Bettina, a celebrated avant-garde painter, whose romance unfolds against this backdrop. The WWII era was the stronger part of the book.

"The Porcelain Maker" is a solid historical novel that offers a glimpse into a dark period of history. The Dachau porcelain factory setting and the mystery surrounding Clara's heritage adds compelling dimension to the story. However, it doesn't break new ground in the World War II fiction genre which is saturated with powerful narratives. I rate it 3.5 out of 5 stars, acknowledging its strengths while recognizing its place among the many WWII novels.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced reader copy of the novel.