The Story of Porcelain

In the Maine woods, young Theo Swift discovers that the most extraordinary stories often come from the quietest places. While accompanying his father on a fishing trip, Theo falls under the tutelage of Mr. Croyden, an old fisherman whose hands know the river as intimately as they know centuries of human craft. As they wait for the fish to bite, Croyden unfolds the secret history of porcelain: from Chinese kilns where alchemists stumbled into miracle, to European courts where a single vase could inspire obsession or war. Bassett writes with the patience of a master herself, each historical vignette layered like glaze, each anecdote fired into something luminous. The distant war gives weight to Croyden's meditations on service and what we leave behind. Part craft manual, part coming-of-age story, this is a book for anyone who has ever wondered about the hands that made the beautiful things we inherit.