Natasha Solomons has written an excellent and epic novel of family, commitment, and loyalty. House of Gold is the story of the Goldbaum family, their wealth, and their multi-generational power in Europe. In the years and days leading up to World War I, the five families continue to build their wealth and influence as Europe's most powerful banking dynasty. Yet no matter how wealthy they are, no matter how opulent their lifestyle, they will always be considered outsiders because of their Jewish heritage. The true heroine is Greta, of the Vienna branch of Goldbaums. She marries into the British branch, and is determined to build her family differently. Greta, stubborn and full of life, brings new ideas into her marriage to Albert. The common threads of nature, simplicity, and loyalty give the newlyweds a strong foundation. One that is strengthened by the chaos of politics. House of Gold is well researched and vividly written. Solomons' descriptive writing transported me back a hundred years!

House of Gold is a rich and sweeping tale of the Goldbaum family during the early 20th century. Wealthy, beautiful, and full of rich-people problems, the Goldbaums are one of the wealthiest families in the world with the ability to make or break entire countries. With all of that power comes impossibly high expectations of all members of the family. Greta, daughter to the head of the Austrian house is set to marry her cousin Albert. Not only has she never met Albert, she has no say in the matter. Greta’s big brother Otto is brought up to lead his family and take his father’s place at the bank and has just as much say in his future as his little sister.
As the years pass, Greta learns to tolerate her marriage, fall in love with her husband, become a mother, and learns the strength to survive a war. With her family’s money being both a blessing and a burden, Greta lives her life as close to her own terms as possible.
This is one of those vast, multi-layered stories that is great for when you want to really immerse yourself for days on end. The e-book version of House of Gold that I read clocked in at nearly 450 pages and takes you all the way from the wedding planning of Greta and Albert’s wedding to the birth of their second child. The detail given to the dresses, dinner menus, furnishings, and gardens is incredible. And the rich people problems-it’s a wonderful escape. Greta frets for months on how to plan a garden. Who to hire, what to plant, the significance of every little stone-all while the Goldbaum kitchens are handing out food to the poor and starving. There is a side story of Karl, a young man who lives in the sewers of the city and stays as close to the Goldbaum mansion as possible because the food they give away is the best in the country.
House of Gold also gives us insight into high-society arranged marriages. I find the separate bedrooms, lack of communication, and the way they act more like a business partnership than a life partnership absolutely fascinating.
I really enjoyed this one. If you want to get lost for days in someone else’s life, I highly recommend this one.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book. All opinions are my own.

House of Gold was everything I hoped it would be - sweeping, epic, and incredibly addicting. I loved letting my mind run wild through the lush setting and reading the details of the lives of the wealthy of that time period. This historical fiction takes place over a period of time that covers the height of wealth pre-war and fall of society as they had known.

The journey follows Greta and all that is expected of her because of the Goldbaum name she bears, including marrying a man chosen for her. To me, the war becomes a secondary character controlling the lives, as it did in reality. Due to growing hate and the struggles of family members being imprisoned, readers will watch Greta and her new husband, Albert, as they navigate through the changing tides.

I found I was caught up in the story and the outcomes of these lives that were once housed in gold but lost their shine. There are a lot of subplots throughout the story that have you wanting more and most of the time you get it. Sometimes you don't. I loved the rich prose. Natasha Solomans book was truly captivating.

Thank you for the ARC.

3.5 stars

I like historical fiction and this time around WWI is very interesting. This is the story of the wealthy Goldbaum family based on the Rothschild family. There were five boys who set up five different banking houses in England, France, Germany and Austria. They keep tight ties and marry the offspring of the other houses. They are courted by governments and yet ostracized at the same time because they are Jewish.

Greta Goldbaum of Austria marries Albert of the English house keeping family tradition alive and well. Although it is arranged marriage, they develop a happy marriage. Then WWI strikes and the young men in the different banking houses had very different war experiences. All served in the military and yet also worked on financing the war. Still they are often treated as outcasts and mocked for their faith.

There was an interesting section when the Tsar of Russia wants money and the Goldbaums bargain for the end of the pogroms in exchange for it.

Still it got a little choppy. One minute Greta has a miscarriage and the next chapter has a 3 year old daughter and a new baby boy. There was not much transition. Another character was on a ship that had been bombed. He was treading water and then went under. A few pages later he was walking into his home. How did he get saved? No explanation is given.

The Goldbaum children complained a lot about their privileged lifestyle and how everything was prescribed for them but I noticed no one gave up anything to strike out on their own. I guess it wasn't as bad as they thought.

I thought it was an interesting book that needed some good editing. The transitions were jumpy and I think a good copy editor would have been a big help. I am not sure the book industry employs them anymore.

Thank you for a copy of this book NetGalley.

This book was not for me! I usually find books written about the time around the First World War very interesting but this one was painfully long and just as boring to me. It was about the wealthy family of Goldbaums’. Greta married into the family by marrying Albert. They didn’t even like each other at first but ended up having two children. Otto was Greta’s brother and he played an important part of the story. There was too much inconsequential information and not enough letting the reader into the souls of the characters. It took me over a week to read this book and I still don’t feel like I know much about Greta and Albert or even Otto. No, this book was not for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy for my honest review.

House of Gold is a sweeping family saga that takes place during the Great War. It's lush and atmospheric, filled with tons of small details that really bring the historical setting to life. In short, it turned out to be everything I love about historical fiction, and it's a book I'm beyond pleased to recommend to fans of this particular time period.

The Goldbaums are undoubtedly one of the most powerful families in Europe. They are the bankers and confidants of government officials, military leaders, and other extremely wealthy people. They are the kind of people who seem to know nothing about sorrow and deprivation, as their massive amount of money insulates them from much of the unpleasantness faced by the middle and lower classes.

Greta has grown up knowing she'll one day leave her home in Austria and take her place as the wife of her cousin Albert, who belongs to the English branch of the family. It's the furthest thing from a love match, but Greta is resigned to her fate. At least, that's what she wants her parents to think. In actuality, Greta longs for something more, but she knows it will be virtually impossible to forge her own path in life. It is, after all, her duty to see that the Goldbaum's power and influence continue to grow, and what better way to do that than to join two branches of the family together in marriage?

As one might imagine, Greta is powerless to stop her impending nuptials, and she ends up moving to England to wed her cousin as political unrest begins to sweep across Europe. Suddenly, the Goldbaum's money becomes incapable of offering Greta the kind of protection she's always known. She is shunned by Albert's friends and neighbors, who view her as the enemy. It soon becomes apparent that Greta and Albert will have to pull together if they have any hope of surviving the coming war.

Meanwhile, Greta's brother Otto goes off to war to fight for Austria. He and Greta have always been close, but they are now on opposite sides of the war, and this causes an irreparable rift in their relationship, something that wounds Greta deeply. Now, Greta feels cut off from everyone but Albert, and she's not sure how to cope with this.

The Goldbaum family is loosely based on the Rothschilds, a family I knew nothing about before picking up this book. It's obvious Ms. Solomons did a great deal of research into the lives of the Rothschilds, but I am unable to speak with any authority on the accuracy of her depiction. All I know is I was immediately swept up in this multi-layered story, and I hated to put the book down for any reason.

Greta is an incredibly relatable heroine. At first, I wondered if I would be able to fully embrace her since she seems kind of pampered and bratty when the story opens, but I needn't have worried. She matures quickly, and I found myself really pulling for her before too long. I applaud Ms. Solomon's ability to create a flawed but lovable heroine who felt completely authentic.

Books about war are often quite violent, but that isn't the case here. The reader is definitely aware of the horrible things going on, but the hardships of life during this turbulent time are deftly woven into the story in a way that doesn't come off as over the top. Ms. Solomons doesn't fall into the trap of filling the pages with unnecessary descriptions of violence, but neither does she sugar-coat things for her readers. She manages to strike just the right balance, making House of Gold a story that can be enjoyed by readers who aren't normally drawn to novels that center around war.

This was my first experience with Ms. Solomons' writing, but it certainly will not be my last. I am eager to see what else she may have written, and I plan to lose myself in another one of her stellar stories at my earliest convenience.

Buy it at: Amazon/Apple Books/Barnes & Noble/Kobo

HOUSE OF GOLD is a family saga about an Austrian heiress from a Jewish banking dynasty (inspired by the Rothschild family) who upon the outbreak of WWI is forced to choose between the family she has created for herself in England or the family members on the opposite side of the war.

The story begins in Vienna, 1911. Greta Goldbaum is engaged to marry the man chosen for her, a distant cousin, a man she has never met. But Greta dreams of living life her way, of breaking through those restraints proper society has placed upon her. But that is especially difficult to do as her family is one of the wealthiest in the world with expectations that must be met.

Fun-loving Greta thus gives in to her fate and moves to England to marry her all-too-serious cousin Albert. Knowing Greta is lonely and feeling lost, Albert’s mother gives Greta a garden. Lady Goldbaum advises Greta to think not of her marriage or her husband, but to think only of her garden. Fontmell Abbey is to be rebuilt for Albert and Greta but the gardens are Greta’s. Lady Goldbaum too had felt alone and sad when she first married. Greta throws herself into learning about gardening and finds she is actually happy. But as Greta and Albert build a life together, war looms on the horizon.

Greta becomes less and less self-absorbed, caring for the people around her. Like most of the society women at that time, Greta volunteers at the hospitals. She even converts Fontmell Abbey into a hospital for them unwed mothers, and then teaches the women about gardening so they will have a marketable skill. Solomons writes beautifully (and extensively) of the gardens, and her description of Greta’s self-growth and the developing bond between Greta and Albert are heartwarming, thus giving the reader a bit of pleasure amongst the horrors of war.

Natasha Solomons writes complex family sagas and the Goldbaums were certainly complex. Branches of the family were spread all across Europe. When war broke out, their wealth could them save them. Being Jewish and controlling so much money, they were targets. Thus the family finds themselves fractured and fighting on different sides in the war.

I did find the book lagged in places and I found myself losing interest as there just seemed to be too much descriptive details. I felt quite a bit could have been cut from the book and the ending would not have been so rushed. But still it is a story of family, love, politics, war, heartbreak, and anti-Semitism which will remain in my mind well after the last page of their lives was read.

A big squishy saga set in Europe around WWI and featuring an incredibly wealthy family - the Goldbaums- with one terrific heroine in Greta. This is historical fiction you can sink your teeth into, especially if you like tales where you'll read about castles, gardens, balls, and, the Titanic, as well as other things. Greta finally falls in love with Albert, the Englishman she was married off to when war breaks out and he's on the front lines opposite her brother Otto. We don't see many stories about this. Solomon has taken on a big task and created a large cast of characters to flesh out her story. The history is well done, the characters nicely drawn, and the writing will pull you in. Greta is terrific! Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. For fans of the genre.

House of Gold by Natasha Solomons’

I am an avid reader of historical fiction and non- fiction.
The Goldbaum family before World War 1 had wealth and power throughout Europe. Everything changed with the rise of anti -Semitism as the family was Jewish. The Goldbaum family keep the line of succession by making sure that there was inter marriage between family members. In 1911 there was an arranged marriage set up between Greta Goldbaum of Austria and her distant cousin Albert who is part of the Goldbaum family in England. Greta is not happy about this arranged marriage but as the plot develops, the relationship becomes stronger and Greta begins to love her husband, having two children with Albert. She also finds solace in her new home and garden, which becomes an integral part of the plot when Greta and her head gardener hold classes for women affected by the war. The world becomes more unstable with the rise of anti-Semitism, but this does not affect the Goldbaums at first as money still drives political power. Once World war1 begins the sub plots appear, one is Otto, (Greta’s brother) who becomes a prisoner of war in Russia and is mortally wounded. Natasha Solomons ‘ focuses on Greta and her new Husband Albert and how the war affects the relationship .This is an engrossing saga but some threads did not come to a conclusion which may mean this saga will be turned into a series about the family Goldbaum .

This book is historical fiction using some of the Rothschild's family and financial history as an inspiration to the story. The time period we are dealing with is Pre-World War I to almost the end of the war.
It brings to light the growing Antisemitism feelings in a lot of European countries. The declining economies, the rise of the workers helping the political situation become even more unstable than it already is.
We get an accurate picture of the lives of the extreme wealthy and happenings during world war I.
The drawback of belonging to the class of wealth of the Goldbaum family is besides been privileged in a lot of ways it also makes demands leaving little freedom to make their own decisions as who to marry, what profession to chose etc .... Their lives have been determined for them from birth.
If you like historical novels I can highly recommend reading this book.

I really wanted to love this book. I love the genre and the era. Greta is a character that brings you in. The story of Greta and Albert is what I craved. There was a lot extra information/detail that made me want to skim. Excellent writing and great praise to the author for creating a true picture in the mind of the reader. 3.5 stars.
Thank you NetGalley !

‘House of Gold’ by Natasha Solomons is a novel of historical fiction. The story takes place in the years prior to the beginning of World War I. Ms. Solomons has done quite a thorough and tremendous job in doing her research before creating this novel. Actual history tells us that Europe was going through some major changes politically. These changes caused disruption and instability in the old hierarchy. Ms. Solomons discusses many of these upheavals and shake ups during the story.

The story is a family saga. In 1911, the Goldbaum family are an extremely wealthy banking dynasty with five branches in five major European capitals: London, Vienna, Paris, Berlin and Zurich. Each branch is run by a different branch of the Goldbaum family. They are rich beyond one’s imagination. Due to the family business and their combined wealth they have the ear of kings and prime ministers. The Goldbaum’s are Jewish. This becomes a major detriment in Europe especially with the rising tide of anti-Semitism. At the beginning of the novel, Greta Goldbaum (of the Viennese Goldbaums) is marrying her cousin Albert Goldbaum (of the English Goldbaums) and their arranged marriage is really the heart of the story.

When Greta arrives in England as a new bride she is lost and lonely. She lives with her husband in their family home - Temple Court in Hampshire. She is introduced to gardening by her mother-in-law and finds a means of self expression. Through the entire novel the gardening is juxtaposed to the money making by the men in the family. I am led to believe that Temple Court and the Goldbaums are based on Waddeson Manor and the Rothschild Family.

There is quite a lot going on in this novel. There are many subplots and the chapters are short which leads one to bounce around between the different characters and their environs. While I enjoyed the majority of the story, I was dismayed at the loose ends and unresolved subplots left at the end. There is an enormous amount of detail in certain areas that I simply could not muddle through and I skipped forward as they became tedious. It was an enjoyable read nevertheless.

I would like to thank Natasha Solomons, PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

With the cabal and the elites in the news, even though it's set in the early 1900's, this book is perfect reading for today. Based on the famous Rothschild banking family and an arranged marriage between distant cousins. Keeping the bloodlines pure was very important to these family. A family saga with lots of drama and historical reference. Strong characters and an entertaining read. I read a reader copy via Net Galley and voluntarily chose to write a review.

This book was way too long and dragged out. I really was enticed by the premise and plot of this story, but I thought it was very excessive in many ways. It was also not exactly an easy read - The language in this book was over-the-top. I really do just feel it was trying too hard. I'm sad I did not like this.

Elegant.y and beautifully nuanced writing made reading House of Gold by Natasha Solomons a pleasure to read. I spent a few late nights reading her book as it was so good I didn't want to stop reading.

The crux of her book is about the House of Goldbaum, wealthy as the Astors or Rothchilds. In fact, the book is very similar to the Rothchild family as the Rothilds were a wealthy banking family in real life much like the fictional Goldbaums. The main female character, Greta Goldbaum, is destined to marry Albert Goldbaum as all the Goldbaums married one another. Her marriage was arranged without her meeting her future husband. After her marriage to Albert, Greta blossomed and developed into a fully mature married woman. I won't go into more detail as I don't want to spoil the plot.

If you love reading historcial fiction, especailly well-written fiction, you should love this book.

Recommend.

Review written after downloading a galley from NetGalley.

In HOUSE OF GOLD, Natasha Solomons tells the story of the Goldbaum family -- a large, exceptionally wealthy and connected Jewish banking family in the early 20th century. Smart, loving Austrian Greta Goldbaum must navigate the chasm between family and loyalty to Great Britain, the country she adopted when she married a distant cousin. Brilliant dialogue, fantastic characters, and wonderful pacing kept me reading far into the night. Wonderful book -- and I don't usually go for historic fiction!

"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.

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 House at Tyneford was a book that has really stuck with me over the years, so I'm very excited to read Natasha's Solomons's newest work.

Addictive historical fiction with a mystery spin. The story is loosely based on the Rothschild family. It shows a possible other side of major historical events, sort of an inside look at events that created and shaped history. The Goldbaum family is one of the wealthiest in the world. They are a family of bankers, settled all over the world, and their wealth is so great that countries rely on them to borrow money to fund things like armies and possibly to prevent war. Goldbaums marry Goldbaums and strengthen the family ties and keep the wealth within the family. The focus is on Greta from Vienna who marries her distant cousin Albert from England in the years leading up to WWI. Both a very different, but they work hard on their marriage and relationship as all around them tension of family politic and world politic escalates on the way to what will become known as The Great War. Perfect for fans of author Jennifer Robson or Charles Todd and, the book Fall of Poppies. Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I was not sure if I was going to like this book as it started out slow at the beginning. But, I kept reading and am glad I did. This really was a very good story. Interesting with good characters. I would very much recommend this book.

I received a copy of House of Gold by Natasha Solomons through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. House of Gold is scheduled for release on October 23, 2018.

House of Gold is the story of the Goldbaum family, a Jewish European family, before and through, World War I. The family is a financial icon, running banks across Europe that influence politics, industry, and the daily lives of people throughout Europe. To maintain the strength of the family, and tie the various houses together, marriages are often arranged between cousins. This is where Greta finds herself, planned to marry her cousin Albert, and leave her family in Austria to live with him in England. Neither Greta nor Albert are thrilled with the arrangement, but they do what is expected. Just as Greta starts to make sense of her new life, and find happiness in her new home, the War strikes. This war divides the Goldbaum family, with members fighting for both sides, and the ties that held their houses and financial power torn asunder.

While this is a novel, and is definitely fiction (not based on real people as far as I know), the story is rich with the history of the time. Discussions about whether or not to have electrical lights in the new house, whether women can wear pants while gardening (or remove their corsets), and struggles with childbirth and reproductive rights place the reader in the historical context. This story is definitely focused on Greta and her personal journey within this family and this time period. But the larger story, the question of the survival of the family as a whole and the world as a whole, loomed large. We spent a lot of time away from Greta, seeing the big picture from other points of view. In the end, I wanted more connection between Greta's story and the larger one. Even a moment where she saw her place in the big picture would have helped me here.

Throughout the story, the characters were consistent, and seemed to be accurate representations of the mindsets of the time. Again, I would have like more reflection. There are high stakes in this novel; characters lives are threatened, characters die, and I found myself not feeling the events. I realized this may have been because I had few moments to see the characters feel the events, and respond to them. I felt a bit distant from the characters and what they were experiencing.

I also struggled to keep track of the when and where throughout the story. This is not the author's fault. Headings throughout the novel included locations, months, and years. I just had difficulty tracking through a part of the world that is unfamiliar to me, and keeping dates in my head. I almost always struggle with this in novels with such a large scope, and have no idea what an author could do to make it easier to follow.

Overall, House of Gold was a good read. It was not my favorite historical novel, but it was an interesting historical look at a specific group of people during a significant moment in history.