The Porcelain Dove
#9373.42 adjusted 3.84 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 1993 Reading commitment Low Delia Sherman Last reviewed 2026-11-02
Overview
The Porcelain Dove is a standalone fantasy novel by Delia Sherman, first published by Dutton in 1993. It is narrated by Berthe Duvet, a lady's maid who enters service in 1758 and follows her mistress Adele from Paris to the Malvoeux family chateau in the Jura mountains of France. The family lives under a curse linked to a lost white porcelain bird and to its owners' passion for collecting birds, and the French Revolution closes in on the household. The chateau is later shown cut off from the outside world for about two hundred years, its residents never aging. The novel draws on the fairy tales of Perrault and E.T.A. Hoffmann. It has no sequels and is complete as a single book.
Historical fantasy, Fairy-tale retelling · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
The Porcelain Dove Delia Sherman
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Porcelain Dove | 1993 | 1 | core | 3.42 (259 ratings) |
A standalone historical fantasy set in a French chateau before and during the Revolution.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Porcelain Dove? The Porcelain Dove's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is The Porcelain Dove finished? Complete (1993).
- How much reading does The Porcelain Dove take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book).
- How is The Porcelain Dove ranked? #937 in this site's official ranking, based on 259 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #937?
Ranked #937 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.42 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (259 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- 0.41 behind #936, Majipoor Cycle.
- Below the top-10 average of 4.46.
Why explore this universe?
Modestly rated · 1 book · Complete · 259 ratings · Ranks #937 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment historical fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
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Suggestions computed from what The Porcelain Dove and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- A Midsummer Tempest Historical fantasy / Mythic fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 3.55
- The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart Dark fantasy / Historical fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 3.48
- Islands of Blood and Storm Dark fantasy / Historical fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 3.43
- Living Alone Historical fantasy / Urban fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 3.40
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.42 across 259 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Canon Extension: 31 universes; 3 candidates ruled out; open items closed accepted 2026-11-02
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Kirkus Reviews Tier 2
- Publishers Weekly Tier 2
- Wikipedia - Delia Sherman Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-11-02
Rule: Core Canon = The Porcelain Dove (1993).