I really enjoyed this book! It reminded me of how much I love reading historical fiction books. I read that this is kind of loosely based on the Rothschild family, which I have no interest in, so I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get into the story. I was very wrong. This story is riveting, and I had a hard time putting it down. I love the gardening passages and the chapters that take place during WWI. It's a fascinating novel and well worth reading. I'm definitely going to check out previous books by this author.


A special thank you to NetGalley and publisher for giving me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This was an unusual book. I enjoyed it greatly and found myself unable to put it down. A book with a great view into the time in which it was set. Very appealing!

Set in pre World War I Vienna, House of Gold is the story of the Goldbaum banking dynasty and one Goldbaum in particular, Greta. Influencial in countries across Europe, there are English Goldbaums, Austrian Goldbaums, and potentially American Goldbaums, as they work to expand their empire. At the same time, they are an insular family, sticking with and marrying each other. When the time comes from Greta to marry she ends up with Albert, from the British side of the family. But Albert doesn't seem much interested in Greta, but more interested in his bugs and things that he collects. The political winds are beginning to change in Europe and the senior Goldbaum statesmen are doing their best to influence their future direction. But fissures are starting to appear between the different branches of the family, and Greta will be forced to make decisions that would once have been unthinkable.

House of Gold is very well written story, and one I had a hard time putting down. Watching the transformation of Greta from a spoiled aristocrat to a person who sees the value in others and has the spine to take a stand against evil and for doing whats right. While I didn't like her much at first, by the end I was so absorbed in her becoming a driver of change in her own right, that I was disappointed to find I had come to the end of the book. I hope there is a sequel and soon! Anyone who loves historical fiction should real this book; it's a winner!

An enterprising family becomes the bankers of Europe. Arranged marriages between branches of the family were expected. Part of the Austrian branch, Greta was expected to marry Albert from the English branch. It was not a love match. Uprooted from all that was familiar, Greta fell into a deep loneliness. Once she began planning her home decor and working in her garden, her life began to look up.

This novel covers a time of wealth and glamor descending into war in Europe. The author does a magnificent job describing people and situations. She manages to draw the reader into this turbulent time without getting mired in tedious details.

The story of Greta’s life is fascinating. This novel strikes just the right level when portraying life. The ending is unexpected and heart warming. You will enjoy each page of Greta’s story.

This story, loosely based on the Rothschilds, one of the oldest and wealthiest families in the world.

It's 1911 and Greta Goldbaum is set to be married off to her cousin in the English branch of the family to a man she has never met. The Goldbaum family has branches in Vienna, Paris and England and nothing happens without their knowledge and their money.

Their marriage if off to a rocky start and Greta is miserable. She's young and wants to run around in her bare feet and dig in the dirt, which horrifies her family and her husband.

When in 1914 an Austrian Crown Prince is murdered by Serbians, throwing everyone into WWI. This is when Greta begins to see the world for what it  is.

I really enjoyed the historical aspects of this. It was really well done.

What I didn't care for was the pages of family drama. There was quite a bit that could have been just left out. For me it's a like not a love.

Netgalley/

October 23rd 2018 by G.P. Putnam's Sons

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC. House of Gold by Natasha Solomons is an emotional, captivating, and well-researched piece on money, influence, and how none of that matters in the midst of a deadly war.

We meet our protagonist, the playful rule-breaker Greta Goldbaum, as she prepares to go through with an arranged marriage to her cousin. Everyone in the Goldbaum clan must fulfill their duties to their owned banks, their countries, and families. It's what you have to do in order to continue your affluent excess. The Goldbaum's control most of Europe's bank and provide credit. This influences their power over multiple governments. However, they're not able to stop the impending war and financing it becomes their biggest challenge.

Natasha Solomons is able to take a heady subject, and infuse humor, wit, and love through the pages. I appreciated the real domestic challenges between our protagonist Greta and her husband Albert. Some of her sensual scenes take on an awkward "OH NO!" moment and it was refreshing to read in a historical fiction. She also gives glimpses of anti-Semitism that was building throughout all the countries (even the Allies).

Unfortunately, there felt to be a few too many subplots that were intended to give the characters more depth but some left a sour taste in my mouth (ie. a character's response to a suicide) that didn't feel necessary or even part of that character's development. I think it would be a good opportunity for a book club to discuss though due to its controversial nature.

I appreciated learning about WWI from Europe's viewpoint (shocking, right?) and this novel helps to realize how unnecessary the whole thing was. It also made me learn how America gained power through loans and interest during the war which bolstered its image as a 1st tier power country.

I recommend this novel to those who want to learn about a lesser known war and with beautiful scenes of parties, dresses, and exuberance. Also recommending for fans of Downton Abbey and that whole time period.

I give House of Gold by Natasha Solomons 3 stars. I found it to be somewhat confusing, because I found that the subplots were more obvious and interesting than the actual main plot itself. I enjoyed the fact that it was WWI era and the history behind it, and I can tell that lots of research was done to write this book. I always warn for content that could be upsetting/unsettling, and in this case is why I gave it a 3 instead of 4 star rating, is that there are quite a few sex scenes that I skipped. I lost count. There is some mild language, and some gore pertaining to war.

Natasha Solomons’s House of Gold the gripping saga of the Goldbaum family, loosely based on the Rothschilds, a powerhouse family, once the wealthiest family in the world. The Goldbaum banking dynasty covers most of Europe in the 1800s and early 1900s. Their influence reaches far and wide even to kings, emperors, and czars.

The story is beautifully told as it examines not only history, bigotry, and the ways in which wealthy families dictate to governments, but how they once imitated royalty by forcing cousins to marry cousins to protect their dynasties. With Goldbaum families in Austria, England, and France, it was deemed necessary that the families be tied together through marriages. Enter Greta Goldbaum and her cousin Albert.

When Greta, of the Vienna Goldbaums is told that she must marry her cousin Albert of the English Goldbaums, she rebels, not wanting to marry a total stranger. The author points out that while Albert has received a photo of Greta, Greta has not received a photo of him. It seems Albert has a choice in the marriage but she does not.

Gender discrimination is noted throughout the book in many ways. Greta is told that she must suffer her marriage, and distract herself with a garden. Pregnant women are refused physicians at the time of delivery because the men on the battlefield. Albert attends a lecture presented by a man about the findings of a “lady scientist”, Mary Putnam Jacobi, M.D. The presenter refers to Dr. Jacobi as “Mrs. Jacobi”.

Meanwhile the Great War has begun, and the governments of several countries are asking for more and more loans from the Goldbaums. The Goldbaum men are officers in the armies of their respective countries, but high military office and governmental appointments are withheld because they are Jewish. The coffers of the belligerent countries are running low, and money is borrowed from America at exorbitant prices. While Europe is bleeding money, America profits. America finally enters the war, but the reason (the bombing of the Lusitania) is not mentioned.

While House of Gold may, as first, appear to be another story of a wealthy young woman’s romance, I assure it is not. Shortly after beginning to read, I was hooked. Anyone who enjoys historical fiction, especially that with a lot of truth thrown in, will enjoy this book. I highly recommend it.

What makes this viewer Grumpy?
• Misused words;
• misplacement of the word “only” within sentences;
• mistakenly using further for farther;
• split infinitives;
• beginning sentences with conjunctions;
• using “come” in place of “go”, and “bring” in place of “take”, common mistakes today that would not have happened even 40 years ago, much less in the time in which this book is set.

4 stars
This is an interesting family saga, though centered very heavily on the singular character of Greta Goldbaum, a young bride. It was not only a very intriguing tapestry of family drama and history, but a look at World War I from a perspective I hadn't seen before.

It's difficult to know where to start unpacking my thoughts about it, there were a number of things about the book I very much enjoyed. All of the characters were engaging and seeing the way the fortunes of their banking houses interwove with the fates of their respective countries was a very interesting device. I liked 'seeing' things from a Jewish perspective as well. The added trouble their religion caused for them even from a position of great wealth and privilege is saddening, which I think makes it all the more important to consider.

I also loved the gardening. Greta's garden was an almost ever present part of the story, the descriptions of and complications relating to it woven in with the plot. It was beautifully done, little hints of beauty twined into the story, but there was never so much of the garden that it overshadowed the rest of the story, nor so much gardening trivia that it was boring.

I enjoyed the main character, Greta. Early on there were points when her choices were frustrating, but she was still likeable and I loved seeing her grow and mature throughout the story. Albert starts off as opaque and foreign to the reader as he is to Greta and I particularly liked the way their relationship was written so that as she came to know and love him the reader came to understand him better. It made for a romance that felt very deep and believable to me.

It is a beautiful book, full of excess and privilege, but also heartbreak and ugliness. It was also exceptionally well written.

I would definitely be interested to read a sequel, to see how the fictional (but historically based) House of Goldbaum endured the aftermath of the first World War and the one to come.

House of Gold by Natasha Solomons is a book of historical fiction, about a Jewish family whose wealth and influence is worldwide. The novel is set a few years before and during World War I and tells the story of a family‘s life. Natasha Solomons makes history real with her characters, settings, and situations. The author writes so the reader may experience the passion, love, sorrow, beliefs, heartbreak and hope. I especially appreciate that Solomons does not try to make historical characters fit into the world today but tells the story as it might have happened in the correct time period. My thanks to the author, the publisher and netgalley for making this book available to me to read and review.

House of Gold tells an intriguing story of WWI. The writing is evocative and the characters engaging. It's a dense book, and slow at times, but if, like me, you enjoy historical fiction, I would recommend it!

House of Gold starts slowly, so slowly that I nearly abandoned it several times, but I am so glad that I stuck with it. Once I read about a hundred pages I was hooked and just could not put it down. I felt when I finished that I knew the main characters well and that I had experienced the horrors of the war through them. This is a book that will stick with me for a long time. It would be a good literature selection to go along with a world history class in high school or college.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC! I actually didn't enjoy reading this book as much as I hoped I would, so I'd prefer not to leave a negative review.

House of Gold held my attention in so many ways. Natasha Solomons wrote a fascinating historical novel of a rebellious girl who evolved into a heroine. The descriptions of seeds, cuttings, and plants that became magnificent gardens enabled me to visualize their beauty and understand the emotioal connections they provided. The families, hierarchy,and financial accounting of the fictional House of Goldbaum, based on the Rothschilds, was informative and interesting. All of this interwoven with the WWI era provided a book I will highly recommend!

House of Gold by Natasha Solomons is a remarkable historical novel of a family banking dynasty. The novel begins in 1911 and continues through most of WWI. The Goldbaum family is a Jewish banking family with family and banks in Austria, Germany, Russia, France and England. Five brothers of a previous generation were sent out of a Jewish ghetto by parents who saved enough to start five banks in the five countries.

This is a wonderful work of fiction. I loved this book and the Goldbaums. The novel focuses on Greta, the daughter of the Austrian branch of the family. Greta is a woman before her time in thought and action. She is such a strong, sometimes stubborn, woman heroine you can't help but call in love with. Forced into an arraigned marriage with a British cousin she's never met Greta begins her marriage feeling anger and interference but still is determined to find happiness with Albert.

I learned so much while reading this book. The Goldbaum banking dynasty is a powerful entity that deals with the nobility and governments of many countries yet are not accepted as equal because of their religion. The hypocrisy and racism is palatable throughout the novel. It made me realize why Hitler was able to paint the Jewish community as evil theives and the cause of all europes problems leading up to and during WWII. Yes these people wielded great power and control over finance BUT it came from hard work, sacrifice, intelligence and diplomacy not from nefarious business practices. They were an easy target and easy to exploit even in 1911 and before.

It's also easy to see how the great depression came about after WWI. It was a war that had to be won at all costs on both sides. Not only were countries divided, families and finances were divided. Countries spent money they didn't have in order to prevail.

Amongst all of this turmoil Greta is ever present. Her story is inspiring and engaging. Greta was the epitome of a suffragette even though not part of the movement. She did things her way no matter what anyone else thought and was always successful and proven right.

Both story and character development in the novel was wonderful. Every character is developed so the reader feels they know them. The story flows and is compelling. It is a very easy read and I didn't want it to end.

I absolutely recommend reading this book. Not only is it a well written remarkable novel it provides the reader with a sense and knowledge of history of European banking and how it relates to both WWI and WWII. I always find it hard to understand how the pogroms and autrocities of WWI and WWII were allowed and accepted. This book gave me a little insight into how untruth was twisted into hate.

Historical fiction at it's best. Natasha Solomons descriptions of the wealth and austere of the Goldbaum family becomes part of this novel's journey through the trenches and prejudices that were prevalent during WWI. Money and power can not stop the horrors of war.

Thank you to Netgalley for this wonderful historical fiction. This book was nearly 500 pages long! I’d recommend this book if you like historical fiction. It’s a story of a family during WWI. A marriage set up by family. Which would be so hard. It’s a story of love and war. And the family that grows and changes. It’s a great family saga.

I took a chance on this book, not being one to read much about Europe prior to WWII (I have become a big fan of fiction based right before, during,and after WWII. I am glad that I took the chance. it took me over 50 pages to really get into the story and there was some confusion on my part understanding all the characters and storyline, but wow after 50 pages I was hooked! Beautifully written and I learned so much about the history and politics of the time. Thanks to the author, publisher and Net Galley for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

Natasha Solomons’ House of Gold tells the story of the incredibly successful and wealthy Goldbaum family, spread across the countries of Europe, running one of the most respected financial institutions of the early twentieth century. The primary focus of the story is Greta, of the Austrian Goldbaums, and how her life changes after she enters an arranged marriage with her English Goldbaum cousin, Albert. Solomons does a good job of painting a picture of a relationship that does not have its foundation in love, and how the couple must find a way to be happy together. And just when they do find a way to make it work, World War I begins and not only are the couple separated, but the tight-knit Goldbaum family begins to splinter along country lines. This doesn’t necessarily have a traditional story arc, but is enjoyable for the perspective it gives on how war divided families in Europe, how much of a struggle it could be to be Jewish, or regarded as German, and how vital it was to so many people in Europe that America enter the war from the viewpoint of a family dealing with the consequences of strife.

Available October 23: House of Gold by Natasha Solomons

***** 4.5 stars, Loved it: A family saga during WWI, any lover of historical fiction will love House of Gold.



Recommended readers:

If you like novels with WWII history and drama
If you want an action-packed, historical read
If you like strong female characters
Here's my Rankings:

5/5 for characters
4/5 for plot
4.5/5 overall
REVIEW FROM BOOKS FOR HER:
Greta Goldbaum is the adventurous, before-her-time daughter growing up in the wealthy Jewish Goldbaum family, a powerful group with family all over Europe. While she craves excitement and adventure, and staying close to her best friend and brother, her family wants her to wed a distant cousin Albert in England. She weds Albert just as World War I starts and her Albert is forced to fight with the Allies while her brother is stationed on front lines in Russia.

In this family saga centered around Greta, it's amazing to see the transformation and challenges she faces. From somewhat frivolous to outstanding character, Greta's strength is astonishing and how the family evolves during a volatile era. Any lover of history and fiction will love House of Gold.

Available October 23: House of Gold by Natasha Solomons