House of Gold
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by Natasha Solomons
⭐⭐⭐⭐
From the New York Times bestselling author of The House at Tyneford, an epic family saga about a headstrong Austrian heiress who will be forced to choose between the family she’s made and the family that made her at the outbreak of World War I.
The start of a war. The end of a dynasty.
Vienna, 1911. Greta Goldbaum has always dreamed of being free to choose her own life’s path, but the Goldbaum family, one of the wealthiest in the world, has different expectations. United across Europe, Goldbaum men are bankers, while Goldbaum women marry Goldbaum men to produce Goldbaum children. Jewish and perpetual outsiders, they know that though power lies in wealth, strength lies in family.
So Greta moves to England to wed Albert, a distant cousin. Defiant and lonely, she longs for connection and a place to call her own. When Albert’s mother gives Greta a garden, things begin to change. Perhaps she and Albert will find a way to each other.
But just as she begins to taste an unexpected happiness, war is looming and even the influential Goldaums can’t alter its course. For the first time in two hundred years, the family will find themselves on opposing sides and Greta will have to choose: the family she’s created or the one she was forced to leave behind.
A sweeping family saga from a beloved and New York Times bestselling author, House of Gold is Natasha Solomons’s most dazzling and moving novel yet.
***
The Goldbaum family is known the world over in the banking industry. Their wealth is astounding. Greta is from the Austrian Goldbaums. She has an arranged marriage to her cousin, Albert Goldbaum. This is not exactly what she wants out of life and the marriage has a terrible start. These two eventually learn to love each other and create a nice life. Then WWI enters their world and their lives change forever.
Greta is a strong-willed woman! And if you follow this blog, you know those are my favorite characters. The start of her marriage is just about her undoing. However, she is determined to overcome and make her life better. I love her resilience and her intelligence. She is the character this novel could not do without.
This first part of this book has a lot of gardening and a large number of business dealings. The last half of the book is much more enjoyable, in my opinion. It is full of action and emotion. This story is full of historical detail and rich with information. I enjoyed this time period. I am usually a WWII reader so, I relished reading about WWI.
And isn’t this cover fantastic!
I received this novel from G.P. Putnam’s Sons via NetGalley for my honest review.
Publication date: October 23, 2018
Paperback: 448 pages
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Language: English
