The gripping story of the lure of porcelain, or 'white gold', from the Number One bestselling author of The Hare with Amber Eyes
Edmund de Waal is an artist whose porcelain is exhibited in museums
and galleries around the world. His bestselling memoir, The Hare
with Amber Eyes, won the RSL Ondaatje prize and the Costa Biography
Award and in 2015 he was awarded the Windham-Campbell prize for
non-fiction by Yale University. The White Road, a journey into the
history of porcelain, was published in 2015. He lives in London
with his family.
www.edmunddewaal.com
Sweeping in scope ... intimate in detail ... The White Road is a
mesmirising and finely wrought work. It is also a cautionary tale
about the price of beauty pursued at any cost.
*Independent on Sunday*
I loved almost every word of de Waal's book. ... De Waal is
intimate with the very stuff that he has tranformed so beautifully
into pots; intimate with its history; intimate with the characters
who make up its story. And yes, by the end, if this sort of
elbow-grabbing book works for you - which it did triumphantly for
me - he in intimate with his readers too
*Financial Times*
Graceful and insightful… this book is certainly the finest account
of the many meanings of porcelain to the modern world that I have
read
*The Times*
This book is a history of the making of porcelain – its discovery
and rediscovery – from ancient China to Dachau. ... Mixed in with
this history is a kind of autobiographical account of de Waal's own
work. He says he thinks with his hands, and he is amazingly skilled
at telling us what is happening as he feels the clay, turns the
wheel, unloads the kiln.
*The Spectator*
This is the most personal sort of book one can read: an account of
a love affair. ... You learn everything you could possibly need to
know about porcelain. ... You don't want to stop reading, because
de Waal, with his sharp curator's eye, has excellent judgment when
it comes to showing readers things that they will find fascinating,
funny or moving.
*Daily Express*
De Waal writes beautifully, wears his learning lightly and
charmingly and makes sure anyone and everyone will care deeply
about the white stuff too.
*Monocle*
Edmund de Waal's The Hare with Amber Eyes, the story of a
collection of netsuke owned by his relatives, was a surprise
bestseller. ... This account of china clay should claim an even
greater readership. It deserves to. It is an even better book. I
already have it marked down as my book of the year.
*The Tablet*
Edmund de Waal's poetic book is like a porcelain cup richly and
delicately painted with the story of a mysterious substance and an
alchemical art that have combined to enrich, enchant and sometimes
ruin aficionados and artists alike.
*Saga Magazine*
This is a haunting book, a book that amasses itself piece by piece,
gaining in weight.
*New Statesman*
Edmund de Waal has a way of making you care about handmade ceramics
in a way no other writer does
*Country Life*
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