The Porcelain Menagerie (Audiobook) 9781963452273
This is a pre-order. Your digital audiobook will be delivered on August 1, 2025.
Narrated by Caroline Hewitt, The Porcelain Menagerie brings to life a hauntingly beautiful tale of art, ambition, and survival in the opulent yet perilous world of 18th-century Dresden.
In a court ruled by the dangerous whims of King Augustus the Strong, two lives—separated by decades—are drawn into the grip of a monarch obsessed with beauty, power, and porcelain.
Young sculptor Johann Kändler has one chance to rise above his modest origins: create a lifelike porcelain menagerie for the king’s growing collection. But meeting the king’s impossible standards comes at a cost. As Johann navigates the court’s shifting alliances, he finds unlikely support in a former royal mistress, Maria, and her daughter, Katharina. His talent could secure his future—or destroy it.
Years earlier, Fatima, a Turkish handmaiden, is chosen to replace a discarded mistress in the king’s inner circle. Forced into a glittering but dangerous world, she must create her own menagerie of exotic animals and learn how to survive among courtiers who see her as nothing more than an ornament. Fatima’s journey is one of resilience, identity, and the quiet strength it takes to reclaim her own story.
With Caroline Hewitt’s rich and immersive narration, The Porcelain Menagerie weaves together two timelines linked by a king’s obsession and the fragile threads of ambition, art, and human dignity.
This is a pre-order. Your digital audiobook will be delivered on August 1, 2025.
Narrated by Caroline Hewitt, The Porcelain Menagerie brings to life a hauntingly beautiful tale of art, ambition, and survival in the opulent yet perilous world of 18th-century Dresden.
In a court ruled by the dangerous whims of King Augustus the Strong, two lives—separated by decades—are drawn into the grip of a monarch obsessed with beauty, power, and porcelain.
Young sculptor Johann Kändler has one chance to rise above his modest origins: create a lifelike porcelain menagerie for the king’s growing collection. But meeting the king’s impossible standards comes at a cost. As Johann navigates the court’s shifting alliances, he finds unlikely support in a former royal mistress, Maria, and her daughter, Katharina. His talent could secure his future—or destroy it.
Years earlier, Fatima, a Turkish handmaiden, is chosen to replace a discarded mistress in the king’s inner circle. Forced into a glittering but dangerous world, she must create her own menagerie of exotic animals and learn how to survive among courtiers who see her as nothing more than an ornament. Fatima’s journey is one of resilience, identity, and the quiet strength it takes to reclaim her own story.
With Caroline Hewitt’s rich and immersive narration, The Porcelain Menagerie weaves together two timelines linked by a king’s obsession and the fragile threads of ambition, art, and human dignity.
This is a pre-order. Your digital audiobook will be delivered on August 1, 2025.
Narrated by Caroline Hewitt, The Porcelain Menagerie brings to life a hauntingly beautiful tale of art, ambition, and survival in the opulent yet perilous world of 18th-century Dresden.
In a court ruled by the dangerous whims of King Augustus the Strong, two lives—separated by decades—are drawn into the grip of a monarch obsessed with beauty, power, and porcelain.
Young sculptor Johann Kändler has one chance to rise above his modest origins: create a lifelike porcelain menagerie for the king’s growing collection. But meeting the king’s impossible standards comes at a cost. As Johann navigates the court’s shifting alliances, he finds unlikely support in a former royal mistress, Maria, and her daughter, Katharina. His talent could secure his future—or destroy it.
Years earlier, Fatima, a Turkish handmaiden, is chosen to replace a discarded mistress in the king’s inner circle. Forced into a glittering but dangerous world, she must create her own menagerie of exotic animals and learn how to survive among courtiers who see her as nothing more than an ornament. Fatima’s journey is one of resilience, identity, and the quiet strength it takes to reclaim her own story.
With Caroline Hewitt’s rich and immersive narration, The Porcelain Menagerie weaves together two timelines linked by a king’s obsession and the fragile threads of ambition, art, and human dignity.
Advance Praise
“Forsberg’s evocative sophomore novel, The Porcelain Menagerie is an engrossing, page-turning historical novel which plumbs the depths of possession, resistance and survival against the backdrop of 18th century Dresden. I could not put it down.”
–Jess Armstrong, USA Today best selling author of The Curse of Penryth Hall“Jillian Forsberg’s The Porcelain Menagerie is a dazzling tale of art, power, and survival set in the glittering yet cutthroat world of 18th-century Dresden. Young sculptor Johann Kändler dreams of creating beauty, but when he’s thrust into the secretive world of porcelain-making, he learns that perfection isn’t just expected—it’s demanded. Behind the grand facades of Albrechtsburg, danger simmers: spies lurk, rivalries turn deadly, and the King’s obsession with porcelain could cost Johann far more than his freedom. Forsberg paints history with a vivid hand, crafting a world where every chisel mark could change a life. The Porcelain Menagerie is historical fiction at its most evocative.”
–Nancy Bilyeau, author of The Blue
"In her heart-wrenching and hopeful sophomore novel, Jillian Forsberg brings 18th-century Saxony to life in vibrant detail, from the deceptive glitter of the royal court to the porcelain factory where the king, consumed by the pursuit of "white gold," keeps his artisans imprisoned. The Porcelain Menagerie is historical fiction at its best: impeccably researched and weaving historical fact seamlessly with enough imagination to give the characters real, beating hearts. Like the flawless porcelain whose formula her characters so desperately chase, Forsberg has created her own white gold—a finely-wrought story of ownership, obsession, and love."
–Molly Greeley, author of Marvelous
“The Porcelain Menagerie is a propulsive page-turner steeped in history, a must-read for those interested in thoughtfully exploring issues of the past that still resonate today.”
–Laurie L. Dove, author of Mask of the Deer Woman, an Instant USA Today Bestseller“Jillian Forsberg breathes life into the forgotten artisans of Meissen porcelain, crafting a tale as intricate as the small treasures they created. When Johann Kändler is summoned to sculpt a menagerie of porcelain animals for Augustus the Strong's infamous collection, he becomes entangled with the king's obsessions, including a dangerous alliance with his mistress, Fatima. Forsberg takes us into the sweltering kilns and fiercely guarded secrets of Albrechtsburg Castle, where the making of each priceless masterpiece brings with it a life-changing human cost.”
–Laura Morelli, USA Today Bestselling Author and Art Historian
"Forsberg excels at crafting historical fiction that centers the lives of fascinating but lesser-known people and events, and with The Porcelain Menagerie, she brings readers an intriguing tale of obsession, desire, and human resilience. As luminous and brilliant as the porcelain that inspired it."
–Paulette Kennedy, bestselling author of The Artist of Blackberry Grange