Janet Gleeson

1956

Sri Lanka

Gleeson's love of art and books has stayed with her for her whole life. After graduation, her first job was as a junior secretary in the Impressionist Department at Sotheby’s. Writing was a stimulating career easily combined with family life, so she took a job as a freelance editor with Reed Books, editing the Miller’s collectors’ guides. Gleeson's best-known books are The Arcanum: The Extraordinary True Story, and the historical mystery novels The Grenadillo Box and The Serpent in the Garden. The Arcanum brings to life the story of the discovery of porcelain in Europe in the early eighteenth century by the alchemist Johann Frederick Böttger. Although China had possessed this secret for centuries, porcelain existed in Europe only as an imported good from Asia and so was once nearly as valuable as gold. The process for making fine china started, as Gleeson relates, when young alchemist and apothecary Böttger boasted that he had discovered the fabled "philosopher's stone" - also called the arcanum - that could turn base metals into gold. After Böttger fooled the powerful King Augustus II into believing that he could perform this miracle, the greedy king imprisoned Böttger in a castle in Meissen near the city of Dresden. The hapless alchemist was then told he could not leave until he produced large quantities of gold for the ruler. Knowing that he could not achieve the task, Böttger instead promised to make porcelain for the king so that he could avoid being hanged. He managed to do so in 1709, and as a result, Meissen became a valuable economic center with the establishment of the first porcelain factory in Europe. Böttger, however, would suffer a horrible death in Dresden in 1919 after years of breathing toxic arsenic and mercury fumes. But the story of Böttger's discovery makes up only the first part of The Arcanum. The rest is devoted to the rivalry between Johann Gregor Herold, who invented prized glazes for Böttger's porcelain, and the artist Johann Joachim Kändler, who created figurines and statues out of it. Many reviewers appreciated Gleeson's ability to turn a piece of history commonly known only to aficionados of porcelain into nonfiction that reads like a novel; the book became a best-seller in the author's native England. Gleeson followed The Arcanum with another historical book, Millionaire: The Philanderer, Gambler, and Duelist Who Invented Modern Finance, set in the eighteenth century. The book's subject is John Law, the roguish heir who squandered much of his inheritance gambling and had to flee imprisonment in England after killing a man in a duel. He ended up in France, where he set up a company that encouraged investments in France's land holdings in the Mississippi valley, and he set up the first centralized bank in France. Law also introduced paper currency to France, but when his company fell into financial ruin, this paper money became worthless and the fortunes he had created for others disappeared as well. As a result, Law ended up fleeing France as well and living in exile. Some reviewers of Millionaire criticized the manner in which Gleeson repeatedly speculates about Law's life, filling in holes and guessing on people's inner thoughts wherever no documentation existed. Gleeson drew upon her antiques knowledge and experience when she wrote her first novel, The Grenadillo Box, a mystery in which Chippendale furniture plays an important part. Set in eighteenth-century England, the story features Nathaniel Hopson, an apprentice to the now-renowned Thomas Chippendale. While Hopson is on a job to build a bookcase for Lord Montfort, the latter is murdered in what his family tries to pass off as a suicide. However, too many clues to the contrary leave Hopson suspicious, including the way Montfort's dead hands clutch a box made of grenadillo wood. When Hopson's friend John Partridge, who designed the box, is murdered too, Hopson wonders if he might be next and sets off to find the killer. Several reviewers were receptive to Gleeson's first novel, many especially enjoying the story's setting, while others had reservations. Gleeson followed The Grenadillo Box with another historical mystery, The Serpent in the Garden, which is again set in the eighteenth century and which features a portrait painter, Joshua Pope, as the protagonist. While Pope is working on the portrait of a well-to-do couple at their estate in Richmond, England, the body of an unidentified man is discovered in the greenhouse. Pope sets out to learn who the man is and how he died. The Thief Taker features eighteenth-century detective Agnes Meadowes, a widow who works as a cook for the Blanchard family, who are silversmiths. Agnes comes to the family's rescue by assisting to recover a silver wine cooler that has been stolen in the wake of the murder of their apprentice and the disappearance of the kitchen maid, who is later found dead as well. The term "thief taker" refers to the individual whom Agnes contacts to help retrieve the stolen property, a valuable item slated for sale.

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Works

book

Living in a Dream: Great Residences of the World

(More than 150 illustrations depict the character and gran...)

1993

The Arcanum: The Extraordinary True Story

(Tells the story of how the West learned to make porcelain...)

1999

The Moneymaker

1999

The Grenadillo Box

2002

The Serpent in the Garden

(She opened the shagreen box. Couched in gray silk was an ...)

2005

The Thief Taker: A Novel

(In the cellar there was no sound at all except her own br...)

2006

Privilege and Scandal: The Remarkable Life of Harriet Spencer, Sister of Georgiana

(Sweeping and scandalous, rich and compellingly readable, ...)

2007

Millionaire: The Philanderer, Gambler, and Duelist Who Invented Modern Finance

(In the wake of Louis XIV's death, France's government tee...)

2016

Janet Gleeson Edit Profile

author Antiques expert

Background

Gleeson was born in 1956, in Sri Lanka, the daughter of a tea planter. She spent her early childhood on a remote tea plantation. Gleeson and her twin brother didn’t go to school, their mother taught them to read and write. In 1963, the family left for London.

Education

The Gleesons moved around a lot, which, for Janet, meant frequent changes of school. She went to 10 schools in the space of ten years. Soon after the family settled in Surrey, her brothers were sent away to school, while she was educated locally, ending up at Horsham High School for the sixth form. She later went to Nottingham University to read earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in History of Art and English.

Career

Gleeson's love of art and books has stayed with her for her whole life. After graduation, her first job was as a junior secretary in the Impressionist Department at Sotheby’s. Writing was a stimulating career easily combined with family life, so she took a job as a freelance editor with Reed Books, editing the Miller’s collectors’ guides.

Gleeson's best-known books are The Arcanum: The Extraordinary True Story, and the historical mystery novels The Grenadillo Box and The Serpent in the Garden. The Arcanum brings to life the story of the discovery of porcelain in Europe in the early eighteenth century by the alchemist Johann Frederick Böttger. Although China had possessed this secret for centuries, porcelain existed in Europe only as an imported good from Asia and so was once nearly as valuable as gold. The process for making fine china started, as Gleeson relates, when young alchemist and apothecary Böttger boasted that he had discovered the fabled "philosopher's stone" - also called the arcanum - that could turn base metals into gold. After Böttger fooled the powerful King Augustus II into believing that he could perform this miracle, the greedy king imprisoned Böttger in a castle in Meissen near the city of Dresden. The hapless alchemist was then told he could not leave until he produced large quantities of gold for the ruler. Knowing that he could not achieve the task, Böttger instead promised to make porcelain for the king so that he could avoid being hanged. He managed to do so in 1709, and as a result, Meissen became a valuable economic center with the establishment of the first porcelain factory in Europe. Böttger, however, would suffer a horrible death in Dresden in 1919 after years of breathing toxic arsenic and mercury fumes.

But the story of Böttger's discovery makes up only the first part of The Arcanum. The rest is devoted to the rivalry between Johann Gregor Herold, who invented prized glazes for Böttger's porcelain, and the artist Johann Joachim Kändler, who created figurines and statues out of it. Many reviewers appreciated Gleeson's ability to turn a piece of history commonly known only to aficionados of porcelain into nonfiction that reads like a novel; the book became a best-seller in the author's native England.

Gleeson followed The Arcanum with another historical book, Millionaire: The Philanderer, Gambler, and Duelist Who Invented Modern Finance, set in the eighteenth century. The book's subject is John Law, the roguish heir who squandered much of his inheritance gambling and had to flee imprisonment in England after killing a man in a duel. He ended up in France, where he set up a company that encouraged investments in France's land holdings in the Mississippi valley, and he set up the first centralized bank in France. Law also introduced paper currency to France, but when his company fell into financial ruin, this paper money became worthless and the fortunes he had created for others disappeared as well. As a result, Law ended up fleeing France as well and living in exile. Some reviewers of Millionaire criticized the manner in which Gleeson repeatedly speculates about Law's life, filling in holes and guessing on people's inner thoughts wherever no documentation existed.

Gleeson drew upon her antiques knowledge and experience when she wrote her first novel, The Grenadillo Box, a mystery in which Chippendale furniture plays an important part. Set in eighteenth-century England, the story features Nathaniel Hopson, an apprentice to the now-renowned Thomas Chippendale. While Hopson is on a job to build a bookcase for Lord Montfort, the latter is murdered in what his family tries to pass off as a suicide. However, too many clues to the contrary leave Hopson suspicious, including the way Montfort's dead hands clutch a box made of grenadillo wood. When Hopson's friend John Partridge, who designed the box, is murdered too, Hopson wonders if he might be next and sets off to find the killer. Several reviewers were receptive to Gleeson's first novel, many especially enjoying the story's setting, while others had reservations.

Gleeson followed The Grenadillo Box with another historical mystery, The Serpent in the Garden, which is again set in the eighteenth century and which features a portrait painter, Joshua Pope, as the protagonist. While Pope is working on the portrait of a well-to-do couple at their estate in Richmond, England, the body of an unidentified man is discovered in the greenhouse. Pope sets out to learn who the man is and how he died.

The Thief Taker features eighteenth-century detective Agnes Meadowes, a widow who works as a cook for the Blanchard family, who are silversmiths. Agnes comes to the family's rescue by assisting to recover a silver wine cooler that has been stolen in the wake of the murder of their apprentice and the disappearance of the kitchen maid, who is later found dead as well. The term "thief taker" refers to the individual whom Agnes contacts to help retrieve the stolen property, a valuable item slated for sale.

Achievements

Gleeson is an antique expert who has used her specialized knowledge to write a best-selling nonfiction book, The Arcanum: The Extraordinary True Story, as well as the historical mystery novels The Grenadillo Box and The Serpent in the Garden.