A meandering family history, based on the real life Rothschilds. set in the years leading up to the First World War. Austrian socialite Greta Goldbaum is married off to her English cousin Albert, uniting two of the five European branches of the powerful Jewish banking family. She is a wild bohemian spirit, more interested in pleasing herself than doing her duty to others, while he is the typical English gentleman. Their union is awkward at first, after she bluntly told him that she didn't love him on the eve of their wedding, but they eventually grow to love each other. Then fun-loving, outspoken Greta has children and turns into an amorphous adjunct of her husband. I didn't object to the laborious detail or the focus on gardening, as other reviews have, but the life being sapped out of Greta by her obnoxious daughter and wailing son did disappoint and bore me. I know that's what rich wives did, and why Greta was married off in the first place, but she is literally reduced to wandering aimlessly around leaking breast milk.

The war, told from the perspective of Albert, Greta's brother Otto and cousin Henri, makes for a jarring contrast to Greta's domestic trials. I felt sorry for Otto, even while trying to buy his way out of a Russian prisoner of war camp with the family cheque book, and admired Karl, his batsman, who started life picking bones out of sewage beneath the Goldsbaum palace in Austria. The wheeler-dealing with Albert in America was instructive but a trifle dull, however.

Although the plot is a bit loose, I can't understand the complaints that there is too much detail and padding about gardening - the descriptions of the Goldbaums' wealthy lives and grand homes was the best part of the book for me. I really felt like I got to know everyone. ( )

House of Gold by Natasha Solomons is the story of the European, Jewish Goldbaum family in the years leading to and during World War I. The historical context makes both the location and the faith of the family integral to the story. The history in the book is interesting because I have read much more about World War II than the onset of World War I. The story in this book unfortunately gets muddled because there are so many subplots. It is sometimes challenging to know where the main story lies.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2019/02/house-of-gold.html

Reviewed for Penguin First to Read program. ( )

A vast novel taking place in Europe in the early twentieth century. The focus is on an arranged marriage between two branches of the Goldbaum banking family. The Austrian branch sends a young lady (Greta) to England to wed her distant cousin (Albert). The marriage bonds the two branches to their mutual benefit. The primary backdrop here is the period just before and during WW1 and it's affect on the two branches. The fact that they are Jewish plays into the plot. I think that anyone who enjoys historical fiction will like this one. ( )

Greta and Otto Goldbaum grow up as the two children of the House of Gold in Vienna. Greta marries Albert (a Goldbaum distant cousin from Britain) and becomes adept at gardening to fend off loneliness in Britain. Otto pursues astronomy before he has to learn the banking business as the heir to Vienna's House of Gold. The stories center around Greta and Otto, their lives as wealthy Jews, and the effect that World War I had on them and the other houses of gold throughout Europe. This was a very good historical fiction read although I do not know enough about finance during WWI to comment on the accuracy of this book. ( )

This novel follows the lives of the Goldbaum family, a family of Jewish bankers that spread their influence across Europe in the years before World War I. Immensely wealthy, the family members still have their struggles - Greta and Albert with their arranged marriage, Henri with the mistress he wants to marry, Otto is unable to pursue his love of astronomy. They all find themselves hopelessly unprepared for war to break out and the consequences of war for their family and business. Overall, this was a good read and I would highly recommend it for historical fiction fans. ( )