House of Gold

August 15, 2018
A multilayered novel tracking the evolution of a lavishly wealthy Jewish banking family in the years preceding and during World War II.The House of Goldbaum--a banking institution stretching across Europe--has financed railways and palaces and abetted world leaders; its influence is so ingrained that "on dull days, it was said, they hired the sun, just for themselves." The business maintains its dominance by adhering to the old ways: communicating almost exclusively through letters written in Yiddish; prioritizing its Jewish heritage; and, most importantly, orchestrating marriages between Goldbaum houses to keep the businesses tightly linked. It's this custom that spurs the marriage of headstrong Greta Goldbaum, from the Austrian house, to the second son of the London branch, buttoned-up, fastidious Albert. From the start, it's an uneasy match. Greta wanders through the London Goldbaum mansion "perpetually off-kilter," while Albert exhibits a greater interest in trapping butterfly specimens than in sleeping with his new wife. Meanwhile, rumblings of war affect business. The German government is seeking a loan to shore up its army; pogroms rage across Russia; and the Goldbaums vacillate between openly wielding political influence and "labor[ing] unobtrusively behind the seat of power, instrumental but overlooked." It seems just as Greta and Albert learn to tolerate and then love one another, the Continent is forced into an arms race, compelling the Goldbaum houses to weigh allegiances to family and nation--and consider the waning scope of their influence in a world altered by war. In perspectives that alternate among Greta, Albert, and other well-constructed characters--Greta's brother Otto; cousin Henri; and Karl, a Viennese sewer rat--Solomons (The Song of Hartgrove Hall, 2015) provides an achingly detailed yet sweeping narrative examining the anxieties of war and crumbling of the Old World order. Despite writing stilted dialogue, Solomons has an uncanny way of lulling readers into a complex sense of prewar unease--from the Goldbaums' mansion to the Jewish Poor Boys' Home in Vienna--making for a rewarding look into the fragility of power and the complexities of Jewish identity in the early 20th century.An absorbing saga.

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September 3, 2018
Set on the eve of WWI, this engrossing family epic by Solomons (The House at Tyneford) draws back the curtains on the opulent life of a European banking dynasty just as its world begins to shatter. The scions of the House of Goldbaum know their duties: marry other Goldbaums and serve the family. Even rebellious Greta Goldbaum will not risk her place in the family, and she obediently leaves her beloved Vienna to become the perfect English wife for her cousin, Albert. She had hoped he harbored a wild streak like their French cousin Henri or shared her brother Otto’s sweetness, but she finds his passion for beetles and butterflies as horrifying as he finds her penchant for not wearing shoes. Their opposites-attract romance is palpable from their first encounter, and the turmoil roiling around them is just as captivating. Across Europe, the Goldbaums navigate what the reader knows to be inevitable: Russian pogroms, socialist reform, and the Great War itself. Though the family itself is close-knit, isolation permeates their lives—as Jewish people in an increasingly anti-Semitic Europe, as oligarchs in a democratizing world, as individuals drowning beneath expectation. In Solomons’s skillful hands, the plot winds around Europe and blossoms into a poignant portrait of characters stuck in an unavoidable paroxysm of global change.

September 1, 2018

This sweeping historical novel, loosely based on the Rothschild family, tells of the Goldbaums, a dynasty of bankers regarded as European royalty. With banks in England, France, Austria, Germany, and Russia, the family controls much that happens on the European stage. As Goldbaum men become bankers, the women marry Goldbaum men to make more Goldbaums. In 1911, Greta Goldbaum of Vienna is sent to England to marry Albert of the London branch. Spirited Greta yearns to break free from the restraints of society and family obligations. Nevertheless, she marries the more serious Albert and resigns herself to a loveless life. Greta and Albert grow closer when her creation of a garden at their new home aligns with his hobby of collecting butterflies and insects. But as they begin a family of their own, World War I breaks out, tearing Greta and the Goldbaums asunder. Greta's beloved brother Otto fights for Austria on the Russian front, while Albert, sent to procure American financial backing, crosses the dangerous Atlantic. VERDICT Filled with rich period detail, vivid characterization, and heartfelt emotion, this meticulously researched novel by Solomons (The House at Tyneford) is highly recommended for fans of historical fiction.--Catherine Coyne, Mansfield P.L., MA

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2018
In 1911 Vienna, Greta, rebellious heiress of the immensely wealthy Goldbaum family, reluctantly leaves her native land to wed her distant cousin Albert in England. Greta and Albert are initially wary strangers, but even as they slowly find their way to happiness, looming on the horizon is a war that will tear apart the House of Goldbaum and set Greta on the opposite side of a bloody conflict from her family and homeland. Solomons (The Song of Hartgrove Hall?, 2015) weaves a tale that is both sweeping and intimate: the story of a family's banking empire and of the societal upheaval caused by the onset of the Great War, with an intriguing portrayal of the space carved out by wealthy Jewish families in European society. It is also the story of a single marriage and the conflicting ties of patriotism and family in the face of the devastation of war, featuring a cast of well-drawn characters. While some readers may wish the ending provided more closure, this is ultimately a poignant, beautifully written story of love and duty.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)