The Porcelain Maker

The Porcelain Maker by Sarah Freethy 384 pages

 

There is a plethora of World War II novels on the bookshelves, and I expect a plethora more to appear as 100 years start to creep up on us. One hundred years since Hitler rose to power, one hundred years since he invaded Poland and the list goes on and on. The way time flies for me anymore, 2045 will be here in a week.

 

Many of the WWII books I have read center on the citizen soldier, the more formal Resistance the concentration camps, etc. with the goal of beating the Germans, Italians and Japanese. But The Porcelain Maker is different. It has a different tone and feel that made this novel. Debut novelist Freethy takes one item from the history books: the porcelain factory that was located near Dachau. The novel also has a structure that I so love: dual narratives.

 

It's 1993. Clara Vogel has never known who her biological father was. Now that her mother, the world-renown artist, Bettina, has passed away, Clara feels she can begin her search. Although she doesn’t hold much hope, she wants to try. Her mother refused to talk about the past, but Clara understands that there is a connection between Bettina’s art and the porcelain factory that I mentioned above. It’s all she has to go on.

 

The other narrative, 1925-1946, is Bettina’s story. A budding, talented artist, Bettina is making a name for herself in a Germany that didn’t know Hitler and his thugs. She falls in love with Max and the two begin to plan a life together. Max is an Austrian Jew who is also gaining respect from his peers around the world.

 

This book is about three voyages. Clara’s journey to learn her father’s name. Bettina’s is about to survive the war and keep her child safe, no matter what it takes. Max’s journey is also to survive the war and find his way back to Bettina so they can live they dreamed.

 

It’s also about faith, perseverance and the juxtaposition of beauty and unimaginable horrors. Readers will know the ultimate outcome of the novel before the end of the first chapter, but the journeys captured my heart. The Porcelain Maker gets 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

Courtney's War

Courtney’s War by Wilbur Smith with David Churchill   464 pages

I was attracted to this novel on the cover. I “think” it’s a Packard emblazoned with Nazi swastikas. I was even more excited when I won a copy from Bookishfirst.com. What the blub on Bookish didn’t mention was that this is the 17^th in the Courtney Family series. I blame myself; I should have done more research before I entered the contest. Live and learn.

The story begins in 1939 with Saffron Courtney meeting with her love, Luftwaffe air ace Gerhard von Meerbach, in Paris in the spring.  The know war is coming, yet cling to each other  as they would a life preserver if they were afloat in the ocean.

Smith bridges the gap between readers meeting the couple with this little paragraph: “In less than five months, in the early hours of Friday, September 1, 1939, Hitler unleashed the forces of Nazi Germany against Poland. Two days later, Great Britain declared was on Germany. And slaughter, suffering and horror exploded across the world.”

Smith then jumps to 1942. Saffron is trying to identify the agent who betrayed the British Special Operations spy network to the Nazis. Meanwhile, Gerhard is watching the beginning of the Final Solution as it is tested for high ranking Nazi officials. The images Smith evokes kept me awake for several nights.

Gerhard manages to survive the Battle of Stalingrad, but his anti-Nazi sentiments lead him to be thrown into Dachau. Will he survive the Hitler’s Final Solution?

The book is well-written; 130 million copies of his novels sold worldwide prove that he is a good writer. However, this isn’t a standalone novel. A lot of the time I felt lost when Smith delved into the characters’ backstories. I could not care about the characters at all.

Another thing that bothered me was that in the About the Author section, there is no mention of Smith’s co-author, David Churchill.  Is he related to Winston? Readers want to know things like this. Due to these reasons, “Courtney’s War” receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.