Twists and turns abound in this haunting story. It willl stay with you long after you have finished reading it.

This was a good book with memorable characters,such as :Greta,a stunning woman that had no say in her marriage to Albert.
Her brother Otto,cousin Henri,her in-laws,the Goldblums and many others.
The story revolves around the five families of Goldblums and their coffers of gold.Each a little better off than the other.
WWI starts about three fourths thru the book and the book then revolves around what the Goldblum gold can do for their countries,each others and how America is involved.
I personally was not enthralled with this particular novel,but it was readable.
I would like to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read "House of Gold." and give my personal review.

this story turned out not to be my cup of tea. the writing was good but I personally don't like wars and strife and prefer not to read about it.

The Goldbaum family has prestige, wealth and power throughout the European continent but all of that could change. It's 1911 and an arranged marriage is set for Greta Goldbaum of Vienna and her distant cousin, Albert who is part of the Goldbaum family in England. But will Greta ever find happiness with her husband when they seem to have nothing in common let alone love? Can war destroy the Goldbaum dynasty?

Historical Fiction is my go-to category for reading. This book had a lot of interesting elements that I like in historical reads but I just found it sort of lacking in keeping my attention. Would have to rank it as an average read.

I haven't read historical fiction in a long time, so this was an awesome read for me. I loved how it had so many different story lines: romance, war, friendship. They were intertwined beautifully and I could not put the book down. The book revolves around the beginnings of WW1, when Greta Goldbaum travels to Britain to marry her cousin. She is not excited about it and has no interest in loving Albert. I found myself loving Albert and his means of being a perfect gentleman and doing what is expected of him. He was definitely a favorite of mine in the entire book. I also loved the sibling love between Greta and Otto. Although living in different countries, they still had such a solid connection. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in historical fiction during WW1 era!

*I was gifted an advanced reader copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

There is, for a reader, no greater pain than finding that a book has squandered its potential. We devote our time, our emotions, even our breaths to these stories, and the feeling of betrayal when something that could have been great turns out to be pointless is matched by very few others.

House of Gold a historical fiction novel that follows a family very similar to the real life Rothchilds, felt like it had the opportunity to be a sweeping, epic saga of a family learning to change through the times. Instead, it felt more like a ridiculous example of how different the lives and harships of the 1% are so incredibly different from our own.

It was hard for me to not like this one, I really, REALLY wanted to. But somehow the author managed to make the main character, Greta, a perpetually unlikable, insipid, and for the most point wholly spoiled brat. Even the "growth" she shows through the story isn't really growth. It is simply her learning to complain about different things, and it isn't until you get 3/4 of the way through the book that she acknowledges how ridiculous her problems are in the grand scheme. Some other members of the family were more interesting,and for whatever reason were also more three dimensional than our heroine.

I read this book as a buddy read with another Bookstagrammer, who had as much trouble and dissatisfaction with it as I did.

It was especially difficult to stomach this book so soon after reading A Well Behaved Woman simply because it was two very different examples of well off women trying to be more independent than society liked.

I still believe that every book deserves to be read... but this one is a tough sell for me to recommend. I felt like it had no beginning,middle, and end.Rather, it was just a rambling account of both the trivial and mildly exciting things that happened to this family. There was no grand payoff for me by the end, only the relief that I no longer had to trudge through this book the way the soldiers described in it trudged through muddy trenches.
(I am especially disappointed in this, since so many historical fiction books focus on WWII,I really wanted a great WWI read to balance the tables. No such luck.)

The Book
The plot was non existent and the characters were completely unrelatable. I can't think of a single person I would recommend this book to, except maybe someone with trouble sleeping.
🥀

The Writing
Why wasn't I connected more with the characters? Why wasn't I rooting for anyone at any point in the story? (Except maybe rooting for Greta to accidentally fall into a hole in the garden and be planted over?)
🕯️

Readability
It took me WEEKS to finish this. I stopped and read two OTHER books in the middle. And honestly,if it hadn't been for my buddy read,I might have given up. I would have left this sucker at an airport had I been travelling anywhere.
🕰️

As a thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced readers copy I shall give an honest review of this novel. Natasha Solomon’s “ The House of Gold” was explosive in its storytelling spanning decades in the Goldbaum family history. This made it a page turner for me. I enjoyed similarities to other family sagas throughout literature ex. John Galsworthy’s “ The Forsyte Saga” and Leo Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina” comes to mind. The author examines issues of ethnicity, class, and gender often within the same chapter and does so in an effortless manner. It is a tale of manners and class as we follow Greta Goldbaum who is introduced as a free spirit in the Goldbaum family. It is in this spirit does she choose a suitor not in her native Vienna but in London, England. Greta is the bearer of many generations of women who were ruled by society’s expectations by who a Goldbaum woman was and what she was to be. The Goldbaum family are wealthy beyond measure and knowingly Greta has entered this world ready to face the consequences of such actions to come. The Goldbaum family are made up of Bankers, and the Goldbaum women who marry them are to produce Goldbaum children. The family has created a strong lineage of individuals who retain their Jewish heritage though facing adversity in life. It is this characteristic of family heritage does it follow and assist in Greta’s identity and overall sense of self. The central relationship Greta holds dear is the one she created out of defiance to her family and one that meant her survival. By wedding a distant cousin Albert is able to follow her duties as a Goldbaum woman but is doing so despite there being no feeling, or love in their relationship. The two come together and build a partnership that is founded on friendship and the love for their family which unites them further than they could ever imagine. This story expands this relationship as it blossoms despite the destruction caused by the coming First World War. At the pace in which I was reading I finished this novel in three and a half days.The authors prose was comfortable and assessable for me. As a reader of historical fiction, I enjoyed the intersection of factual events and how it impacted the life of these characters for ex. the sinking of the Titanic. I devoured every minute of it, and highly recommend it to fans of Downton Abbey, The Forsyte Saga, or are fans of Edith Wharton’s novels. I give this novel four out of five stars.

A really interesting historical novel set in the years leading up to and during World War I, about the fictional Goldbaum family (apparently loosely based on the real life Rothschild family), a fabulously wealthy Jewish family with banks all throughout Europe, set in Vienna, England, and more. I loved the main character, Greta; loved the time period it is set in which I am not super-familiar with; loved reading a book about Jewish characters which was not a Holocaust book, and just found the whole thing very interesting even though it is a bit of a quiet book. I also loved Natasha Solomons' book "The House at Tyneford," so she is going to be a must-read author for me going forward, including catching up on those of her books which I have missed.

This is probably my favorite book of 2018 and I have read some fantastic books this year. Set at the outbreak of WWI, the story centers around the Goldbaum family, a Jewish banking family who basically finance Europe. The opulence of their life is offset by their real life struggles such as arrange marriages, childbirth and the danger of war. I cant rave enough about this book. I love historical fiction and I just felt so invested in this story and the characters in this book. I guess there is no Goldbaum family but it is loosely based on the Rothschild empire. Absolutely loved reading this book and will recommend it to all my historical fiction loving friends.

A powerful European family finds itself bowing under the weight of war. Family members will find themselves on opposite sides of the lines in ideology as well as geography, and they will face hardships unlike any they’ve ever experienced. Author Natasha Solomons offers readers a studied look at how war affects the rich and famous in her unnecessarily drawn-out novel House of Gold.

In Austria, Greta Goldbaum ponders marriage—her own, that is. As a member of the influential Goldbaum family, Greta knows her lot in life is set. She’s expected to marry within the family to keep the name, and their Jewish heritage, intact. Marrying inside of the family also allows for all the money to stay in one place, and no one can deny that when it comes to money the world tips its hat to the Goldbaums.

Greta isn’t so sure about what’s expected of her, however. She’s agreed to marry her distant cousin, Albert, from England, and she’ll have to leave her beloved Vienna for the damp English weather. She just hasn’t made up her mind yet about how much she likes Albert.

Life in England brings a drastic change and, in some ways, a welcome one. Greta escapes her overbearing mother, for one thing. Also, despite missing home, she starts to feel freedom in her new country; the kind of freedom she didn’t feel in Austria. When Greta and Albert’s relationship gets off to a rocky start, her mother-in-law offers a distraction: a garden for Greta to call her own. Greta puts her attention and energy into it, and like a young seedling given the right space her marriage with Albert also begins to blossom.

Even their budding romance can’t shade itself from the threat of World War I, which brings a whole host of complications. The greatest one comes in the monetary cost: war officials count on the resources the Goldbaum family can provide, even while discriminating against “common” Jews all in the same breath. The double standard makes Albert and some of his other cousins think twice about just where the money is going, but no one can doubt the power of currency. If it’s gone, the only thing that matters is that it’s been spent. The Goldbaums must do all they can to preserve their fortune or risk becoming destitute themselves.

Author Natasha Solomons gives readers some pleasant tidbits about life as a member of the most elite level of society. The Goldbaums consume lavish meals. They travel in private transportation of every form. They own hothouses where teams of gardeners force flowers and fruits and vegetables to grow at the family’s pleasure, regardless of the season.

However, the story itself meanders from topic to topic. Readers will go from scenes of Greta and Albert and the awkwardness of the first months of their semi-arranged marriage to scenes between senior Goldbaum men as they discuss politics and finance. Thrown into the mix are moments with Henri, a member of the French branch of the family as well as Otto, Greta’s brother, in Austria and then in England when he comes to visit. Albert’s brother, Clement, also features somewhat prominently for a while but then inexplicably gets relegated to the background until he almost disappears.

Solomons interjects with a subplot about Karl, a beggar boy who eventually connects with one of the Goldbaums to show that war doesn’t care about bank balances; it devastates anyone. While Karl’s story offers a mild distraction from the other plot points, it doesn’t enhance the overall book. In fact, had Karl not been in the novel, the book wouldn’t have suffered in any way.

The biggest challenge for readers will be the scope of the novel. They may wonder exactly what it is Solomons wants her target audience to glean from the book. An insipid end that brings the Goldbaums to two years before the end of World War I doesn’t offer any answers. The Goldbaums find themselves limping along in their every-day lives to survive the financial and emotional toll of the war, and readers who stick with the story to the end will find themselves frustrated with the lackluster conclusion.

Those interested in historical fiction might find House of Gold interesting. Otherwise, I recommend readers Bypass it.

I love historical fiction, early 20th century books, and novels with strong women characters, so I figured it was inevitable I would really like House of Gold. And I did. However, I enjoyed the first part of the book much more than the second, because I don't really like reading details of war. Even though I knew House of Gold was set in Europe during a time when WWI would break out, I figured its focus on Greta Goldbaum would keep it from detailing the war fronts. However, Greta was much less the focus in the second half, when the point of view switched more to her male relatives. It's my own lack of enjoyment reading about battlefront that keeps me from rating this book a 5. Your mileage may vary on this, depending on your preferences.

House of Gold is based on the Rothschild family, wealthy Jewish bankers who had cousins working in various branches around Europe. This seems like a good plan, and the family flourishes before and after the turn of the century. As the book opens, Greta, from Austria, is getting married off to a cousin in England. Although she has some difficulty adjusting to a new home and a husband she barely knows, she enjoys the opulent lifestyle and gorgeous gardens of her in-laws mansion and eventually her own. I have read that the gardens were modeled on the Rothschild's lavish gardens, an interesting historical note. Goldbaum relatives from the various countries--a cousin from France, her brother Otto from Austria...--are introduced in the first half in a natural way.

Once war breaks out, the arc of the various family members splits dramatically. Otto fights for the Hapsburgs, Greta's husband Albert is an officer on the other side, French cousin Pierre struggles to stay alive. Whenever these chapters focused back on Greta, I enjoyed the book so much. So I wish the author hadn't gone down the rabbit hole of following the men but instead had stayed with Greta, her in-laws (her House of Lords father-in-law too old to fight), and their home life--the way Downton Abbey did in its own dealings with WWI.

The book is over 400 pages, and could have benefited from a little trimming. But overall it was a fast read and very well written. This would make a good book for any book clubs that enjoy reading historical fiction.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher, Putnam Books of Penguin Group publishers; through NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

House of Gold by Natasha Solomons is a sweeping story of the Goldbaums. A banking family who's wealth and power spreads throughout Europe and England. That is until war begins to threaten the empire that the Goldbaums have built and tear the family apart . The author has vividly portrayed the life and times of this family during the beginning the 20th century as political strife burns like a fire throughout the continent. She has done a splendid job of portraying this rich history and the events that led to the first World War. The Goldbaums are loosely based on the Rothschild's of their time and depict not only the life of the rich and powerful but the rising anti-semitism of its time.

House of Gold revolves around Greta and Otto Goldbaum of the Austrian Goldbalms, Albert of the house of England, and Henry of the house of France. Headstrong and impulsive Greta is married off to Albert Goldbaum. The marriage at first is unfortunate and begins as a means to strengthen the family ties. They are different in every way and they start off their marriage with a mutual dislike of one another, tolerating one another at best.
Love comes as a bit of a surprise to both, and is tested by the inevitable effects of the looming war.
My favorite character however, is Otto Goldbaum; the much loved brother of Greta. I believe his life is similar to many of that time, when the confines of family responsibility and his own desires are at odds. One never reaching true happiness. Despite everything, I was hoping for a happier ending for Otto but it was not to be.

House of Gold was well written. I have to say that the ending was my favorite part. It was emotional and heartbreaking, bittersweet and beautiful. Natasha Solomons has written a stirring story that lovers of historical fiction will want to get their hands on.

My review has been posted on both Amazon and Goodreads.

House of Gold is at once historical fiction and a family saga about an Austrian heiress – Greta Goldbaum and her extended family – one of the wealthiest families in the world. The family is loosely based on the Rothschild family. It begins in Vienna in 1911 as Greta is about to be married off to a distant cousin, Albert, and relocating to London.

Despite their wealth, the Goldbaums feel as if they are outsiders as Jewish people in an increasingly anti-Semitic Europe, and so the family makes continuous adjustments to live their lives among the rest of the world. While their wealth provides some level of power, their ultimate strength lies not in their wealth but in the close ties of their family.

Greta and Albert get off to a bit of a rocky start, but ultimately find their place and a close bond together. When World War I breaks out the entire family’s lives are changed dramatically. This is especially true as both Albert and Greta’s dear brother Otto are in service during the Great War.

What I liked about the book: Greta is a really compelling character. So much depth and lots of nuances. She was so young when she became betrothed and yet she was headstrong, smart and capable. I know it was somewhat customary in families of this stature, but I can’t imagine having my husband chosen for me, let alone having the person actually be a member of my own, even if distant, family. Bizarre. Women of that time did not receive extended education, but Greta was naturally brilliant. Her mother-in-law opened her life to the world of gardening and gave her purpose beyond that of being a wife and she blossomed. Albert, desperately proper, quite nerdy and scientific and yet underneath it all a genuinely kind and charismatic man, who grew to love his quirky wife. His love of butterfly specimens provided an interesting complement to Greta’s devotion to her gardens. Clement, Albert’s older brother, is an immensely delightful and flawed character in so many ways. Cousin Henri, and his paramour, the actress, and their relationship, reminded me very much of the doomed English royal Edward and his relationship with the American heiress. The difficulties this family faced, despite their wealth and due to the war and their religion made this a most interesting read. I did like the ending and how the author surprised the reader – however quietly and without fanfare this was done.

What I didn’t like as much: While I have no doubt that families such as this faced difficulties such as that which Clement faced and caused, it seemed surreptitiously swept under the rug – but perhaps that was what families like this did in those circumstances. When Henri’s paramour makes a rather unfortunate decision, this too was rather quickly swept away by the author and we didn’t hear much about Henri after that.

I recommend this book to those who enjoy a good historical novel as well as to those who enjoy reading very descriptive books about life in England during the early 20th century pre-and post WWI.

Disappointing. Uninteresting. Predictable. Too much description which slowed the plot to a snail's pace - did not need to know the name of every flower and plant or the foods they had at every meal. Would have preferred more of the family's banking business.

This is one of the first historical fiction books I've ever read and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. This book did a great job of transporting me to the WWI era and get inside the mind and life of a rich family during interesting times.

I have to agree with another fellow reader that the first half was definitely better than the second. For some reason, it seems as this book is unnecessarily long and that the second half was written just for the sake of finishing the story. This doesn't take too much away from the amazingness of the book though. So I was not discouraged.

Other than that, I enjoyed reading about this family's life, influence and wealth. Beautifully written. I will definitely read more from this author.

I really enjoyed this novel. It is the story of the Goldbaums, a wealthy Jewish family of bankers spanning Europe. Greta (Austrian Goldbaum) is wed to her distant cousin, Albert (British Goldbaum). After an unpleasant beginning of their marriage, they learn to love each other truly and deeply. Greta adjusts to England and finds solace in the home she rebuilds for her and Albert and in her vast gardens. I really liked Greta, she was very modern and nonconforming of the era. However, war soon spreads across Europe and the Goldbaum family is torn apart.
This is a well written account of a wealthy family fumbling its way through life changes and WWI. Ultimately it is a story of family, love, loss, self discovery, friendship, gold and war.
I was really looking forward to this novel as I love Ms. Solomon's writing and have read The House at Tyneford also. The House of Gold does not disappoint. I definitely recommend this novel to any historical fiction fans!
I received this novel via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The House of Gold is a Historical Fiction book that is somewhat based on the famous banking Rothschild family in Europe. Their power and influence were quite significant in the early twentieth century. Although they lived within the world of the wealthy and influential people of the time because of their financial power, they were not wholly accepted within the fold as they were Jewish.

The book opens in 1911 where the Goldbaums are a banking dynasty that lends money to governments across Europe. There are branches of Goldbaums in five countries: Austria, Germany, Paris, Switzerland, and England. To keep the dynasty strong, the Goldbaums marry within the family. Thus, at the start of the book, Greta Goldbaum who is from the Austrian branch has had a marriage arranged to a distant cousin, Albert, from the English branch. The two are not very compatible. Greta has a free-spirit, march to your own drummer personality where Albert is quite proper and unadventurous, collecting butterflies and insects as his hobby. Greta is a strong-willed woman who forges her way in the new family, and in time, she and Albert eventually begin to build a relationship and learn to love each other.

Thank you NetGaylley for a copy of this book. I enjoy a good story like this. Even if it was a little slow to read at the beginning. But into it I almost couldn't put it down. I loved the plot and all the characters of the book. The story should be continued because I wanted to know what happened after. I highly recommend reading!

“It was a secret as small as a leaf. It belonged only to her.”

Greta was born into the elite financial family Goldbaum and wants for nothing in life until she is forced to marry a distant cousin and realizes love may be completely out of her reach in House of Gold. Her one faithful companion, her brother Otto, must stay in Austria while she heads to London. Her husband, Alfred, is surprised when she write the night before their wedding asking him to call it off due to all her faults and the lack of love between them. He declines until right before the wedding when he clears the room and offers her the choice. Freedom is within reach, but his actions slightly endear him to her and she goes forward with the wedding and must learn for forge a life with a stranger.

I came across House of Gold while looking through available book in NetGalley. The plot looked really interesting. Historical fiction books are my favorite and I don’t come across many that are set during the World War I time period. This is the first book I’ve read by Natasha Solomon.

The first half of the book focuses on the relationship between Greta and Alfred and then moves on to how the Goldbaum family is affected by the start of World War I. The Goldbaums own large banks and while they have tried to stay apolitical through the years, the war tears at their family and country loyalties. Greta must rise to the occasion of a Goldbaum wife, but finds solace and independence in her own garden. Even she is tested by the war, though, in ways she never would have imagined.

I enjoyed reading House of Gold and read through it fairly quickly. I wanted to know if and how Greta and Alfred were going to get along. The ending is satisfying, but could have gone a little further in their story. The book is for adults as there are some descriptive romantic scenes and war scenes. Lovers of historical fiction will love this view of the world before the First Great War when some families had extravagant wealth.

I could not finish this book. It was like pulling teeth to even try. The pacing was so disjointed; there would be sufficient action to lull me into a false sense of security, and then the author would go into such excruciating detail about the gilding or the cuisine that my eyes would glaze over. I’m disappointed because this book had such potential, but it thoroughly missed the mark for me and I couldn’t make myself soldier on.