Published By: History Through Fiction
Pages: 258
Released On: 21/10/2025
In a world where ambition is as fragile as porcelain, two lives are shaped by a king’s dangerous obsessions.
In 18th-century Dresden, the dangerous whims of King Augustus the Strong shape the court and the lives of those held captive, both people and animals.
Johann Kändler, a talented young artist, is drawn into the world of King Augustus the Strong. The king’s relentless desire for a lifelike porcelain menagerie could make or break Johann’s future. As Johann works to meet the king’s impossible demands, he finds unexpected allies in former royal mistress Maria and her daughter Katharina. Johann’s art might secure his future-or ruin it if he fails to satisfy the king.
Decades earlier, another story unfolds. Fatima, a Turkish handmaiden, is chosen to replace Augustus’s discarded mistress. As she tries to create a menagerie of exotic animals and navigate the intrigues of an unpredictable court, Fatima must learn to survive in a world that values beauty and power above all. She must fight to keep her identity and unlock her own cage in the king’s dangerous realm.
Two timelines, bound by a king’s obsessions: art and survival intertwine as Johann and Fatima navigate the king’s unpredictable demands and the deadly allure of court life, where ambition can be as fragile as porcelain.
*****
Thanks to History Through Fiction for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
Jillian’s previous book, The Rhino Keeper, was one of my favourite reads of last year so I was super excited to read her latest one.
I love Jillian’s attention to detail. I know very little about the 1700s and so I don’t know how accurate it is but it felt truly right.
Whilst this is similar to The Rhino Keeper in the sense it has two timelines. The Rhino Keeper had a modern timeline and an historic one, whereas this one has two stories set in the 1700s and they merged a lot more. And neither one is the correct way to do it. I thought I wouldn’t like the two timelines being so close together but I really liked it. You can see the overlap between the two stories and the characters. The two really different times in The Rhino Keeper made sense for that story, whereas the two closer time differences work for this story.
It’s not an easy book to read. There are some very difficult subjects mentioned, some in more detail than others. But I think, overall, she has done them justice. She’s not hidden away from the horrors of the 1700s but she also hasn’t sensationalised them. She’s been sympathetic but honest.
Because of the time, books set this far in the past can be difficult to read in terms of the language used, but Jillian hasn’t resorted to that. And whilst it’s not full of modern-isms, it is clear enough that you can lose yourself in the story instead of getting stuck on what words she’s used.
This is historical fiction at its best. It’s so absorbing and addictive, it’s wonderful. If I had to choose I’d say I preferred The Rhino Keeper slight more but that’s because I loved the comparison between the past and the modern times, but it’s a negligible comparison because I really did enjoy this very much.
I highly recommend reading her note at the end of the book, it’s fascinating.
Jillian isn’t currently a huge name in the literary world, at least not here in the UK. But she deserves to be up there with the most popular historical writers because her work is truly wonderful and she will always be an author I look out for. You can tell history is her passion and that’s so lovely to see coming through her work.
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