Loved this book. Interesting characters, in a dangerous time period. A family of Jewish bankers, before and during World War I, caught up not only in the politics of the time, but also the economics of it. As well as an intriguing protagonist, a member of the Austrian branch of the family, who marries into the British branch. I can only hope that it’s the first book of a series so we can follow these characters into the future.

This is a wonderfully engrossing story that showcases a lifestyle that most of us cannot even imagine. It is the story of Greta Goldbaum who was born to the Vienna branch of the family, the Goldbaum's who were the bankers of Europe. She grew up in an ultra privileged home, along with her beloved brother Otto. The Goldbaum's were the world's most preeminent Jewish family and they only married within the branches of the family and so Greta was sent to England to marry Albert Goldbaum. The descriptions of their home, their gardens, their servants and everything about their way of life are utterly amazing, but despite all their wealth and influence they always remembered that as Jews they were never entirely accepted. Then the war came and destroyed their way of life, pitting the Austrian side of the family against the English side, leaving Greta torn between them. Their fortune could not protect them from the horrors of the war and especially for Greta who was considered by many to still be the enemy. This book gave me a glimpse of what life was life for the rich and famous in pre-World War I Europe and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Highly recommended book for lovers of historical fiction. It is loosely based on the Rothschild family before WWI.
It shows us a side of life from a feminine point of view and Greta's lack of choice and then making her own way. I could not put it down and look forward to a sequel about her daughter. .

House of Gold by Natasha Solomons is a beautifully told, engrossing family saga. Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction!

This was an interesting novel of the Jewish aristocracy during wartime. I liked the main character, Greta, but the book was pretty heavy and dark overall. When Greta agrees to an arranged marriage, she does not expect to still be a virgin a year after her wedding. She and her husband are not getting along, but her favorite brother is determined to help save the marriage. Just as they are coming to terms with their differences, the war steals him away. I did not expect to spend so much time with the soldiers which is difficult for my taste. Greta's garden is a microcosm of freedom and love, and she learns how to live through the gardening process. The book was sometimes difficult to read as this early copy had formatting and typo problems, but it was well written. If you like seeing the home side of the war, this will be right up your alley. Not my favorite.except for Greta and her garden.

The Goldbaums in this story are loosely based on the Rothschilds, once the wealthiest family in Europe and the world.

The story starts in Vienna, 1911, with the most influential family of its time.

Greta Goldbaum is told she is to be married to her cousin Albert in England.

While on her way to London, she stops in Paris. There she meets Emilie Floge, an Austrian fashion designer and a life companion of the painter Gustav Klimt. Emilie’s designs are bold and way ahead of her time. But this is what gives Greta wings. She realizes that she didn’t have a say in her marriage, but she wants to take control of her decisions.

Once in England, her marriage has a rocky start. What gives her consolation is designing a 100 acre garden.

All this is set against brewing antisemitism in Russia.

1914, Austrian crown prince is shot by Serbian rebel group, which leads to WWI.

As war shows its priorities even in hospitals, wounded soldiers over unmarried mothers, Greta sees the limited options for unmarried mothers and tries to find a way to help them by extending gardening program to them.

The story starts fairly interesting. But it is too drawn out and as a result half way through I slowly started losing interest in the story. At 70% of the book, I just couldn’t wait to be over with it.

What made the story interesting for me was injection of such facts as the background of rising antisemitism and the fate of unmarried women, and introduction of such fashion icon as Emilie even if for a brief moment. But all those facts made the story progressing forward.

What made the story disengaging was the family drama. At those points the story was still.

How long do we have to wait for the sequel?

You'll love it from start to finish. "House of Gold" is loosely based on the Rothschild family of banking fame, highlighting the family's effort to halt the first world war. The Goldbaums have a similar story--the sons of one baking family settling in major centers of Europe and launching banks. Greta Goldbaum is part of the Viennese branch, and she is to marry Albert of the British branch. The Goldbaums marry other Goldbaums, keeping the cousins as distant as possible but still part of the family. They're all Jews, of course, and even though the British are more open minded than the Austrians, Jews still walk a tightrope between being invited to tea and being run out of the country on the next train.

I loved "The Song of Hartgrove Hall" and "House of Gold" delivers a similar level of satisfaction. "House of Gold" leave lots of characters' fates up in the air at the end with WWI not yet over. You will crave knowing what happens to them. The Goldbaum story must go on!

This is a wonderfully engrossing story that showcases a lifestyle that most of us cannot even imagine. It is the story of Greta Goldbaum who was born to the Vienna branch of the family, the Goldbaum's who were the bankers of Europe. She grew up in an ultra privileged home, along with her beloved brother Otto. The Goldbaum's were the world's most preeminent Jewish family and they only married within the branches of the family and so Greta was sent to England to marry Albert Goldbaum. The descriptions of their home, their gardens, their servants and everything about their way of life are utterly amazing, but despite all their wealth and influence they always remembered that as Jews they were never entirely accepted. Then the war came and destroyed their way of life. Their fortune could not protect them from the horrors of the war and especially for Greta who was considered by many to still be the enemy. This book gave me a glimpse of what life was life for the rich and famous in pre-World War I Europe and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Natasha Solomons' House of Gold has so much promise that's unfulfilled. It's a big sprawling story based on the real-life Rothschilds, who once controlled great swaths of the world's wealth and money markets. It sweeps through the early part of the twentieth century through WWI, taking the reader from Vienna to Paris, Switzerland, England, the U.S., the North Atlantic, and the German front. Solomons also offers considerable information about money - how it is made, traded, and used. While the story moves along at a nice clip for the first three-quarters of the book, ultimately Solomons fails to deliver. Several flaws keep the book from being all it could be. Although it is heavy on plot, it is very thin on character development. The reader is invested only in Greta, and even her motivations and deepest thoughts are elusive at times. The other characters are either stencil-like portrayals or flit in and out of the story without leaving much trace behind. The fates of many characters are also left unfinished; swept up and separated by WWI, several are never heard from again. I had to read the last chapter twice because I could not believe that such a soap opera-ish ending, presented without explanation, passed an editor's muster. One of the book's most prominent themes is fertility. Solomons sparkles when she describes flora and fauna, butterflies and insects, and gardening. The natural life is renewed beautifully time and again. And yet, even in 1910, Greta seems to be totally ignorant of birth control methods that were available by the end of the nineteenth century. She was a woman of means, a woman with access to doctors and others who might know of these methods. That she remained unaware of them is not credible. This book will appeal to readers looking for a family sage and will lend itself to book club discussions.

I loved Natasha Solomons earlier work, especially THE GALLERY OF MISSING HUSBANDS, but this book surpassed her prior novels. It even made me a fan of a genre I generally don't like. Yes, this is a sweeping novel of love and death during WWI, but her writing is lush and beautiful. She has managed to create several memorable characters within a large family.

This is the story of the wealthy Goldbaum clan, inspired by the history of the Rothchilds. The central character is Greta Goldbaum. She is forced into marriage with a cousin, forced to move away from her beloved home and family to England. Nothing about Greta is predictable including her marriage to the aloof Albert. The reader gets to watch the couple grow and see their children born.

From a young displaced woman, we see Greta's growth into a woman of passion and involvement in the life of unfortunate women. She is indeed a "woman of valor."

On the sad side is the war, again beautifully described (despite the fact that it is very disheartening) and the story of Greta's brother, Otto, an unfortunate soldier. When a family is scattered all over Europe, the war can quite literally pit brother against brother and cousin against cousin.

The role of the Goldbaum fortune is also described, including the influence of bankers on government. Solomons also manages to involve the reader in the never-ending strands of anti-Semitism which were strong in Europe, especially depicting the treatment of Jews by the Russians.

Though I generally hate sagas, I must say, that I hope Solomons will consider writing about Greta's daughter, Celia and her experience in England during the years of WWII. Yes, I did the math, she will be at a perfect age to enchant readers in the 1930s-40s. Forgive me for seeing this as Jewish Downton Abbey, but I could not help but see the similarities.

This is a great read and a fine choice for book clubs with so many aspects of social history to examine.