The House at Tyneford

Historical Fiction Fans Will Enjoy!

if you are looking for a read that makes you feel as if you are right there in the story and not just reading it, look no farther.

Elise is used to the comfy life in Vienna. When that life is threathened by the growing events of WW2, she is sent to be a parlor maid in England. Life at Tyneford is hard to adjsut to, but it all changes when she becomes friends with Kit, the son of Tyneford's owner. They fall in love & intend to marry. Before they do, Kit goes off to fight in the war. Alise & Kit's father are forced to leanon one another to get through the roller coeaster of the war.

From being shot at by an enemy plane, to being taken by the police, & the discrimination, The House At Tyneford takes you through everything having to do with the war.

5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

Great Read

This book started out slow for me but, by mid-way through, I couldn't put it down!

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Loved it!!

I absolutely loved this book and hated for it to end. Hopefully there will be a sequel. If you loved "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "Downton Abbey" you will not be disappointed with this read.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Check it out

Wow! This novel had me hooked from the get-go! I could hardly put it down! It is pretty dense with clues and hints about what is going on so it took a while to read. But it is wonderfully written. And now that I have finished it - I am starting over!

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Great Book

I loved this book, it was one of those books you just don't want to end. It takes you away to another place and time. Excellent book...

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Highly recommend

Wonderful book. I had just finished reading "Beasts in the Garden" and this was a good follow-up book.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

It was an okay story with average writing but 2 thumbs down for

It was an okay story with average writing but 2 thumbs down for the multiple "f" bomb used. Not impressed with lack of language skills in this book!

Written with the feel of the Victorian novel, this book is much

Written with the feel of the Victorian novel, this book is much more. The tone is sometimes light, sometimes romantic and sometimes tragic, but it is never overbearing. This book is about the memories of a house and the lives of the people who dwelled within it, during a time of terrible turmoil. All of them are well defined and interesting characters who come to life on the page.

It begins in Austria, during the early years of Hitler’s onslaught. The dangers facing the Jews are just beginning. Their plight and possible escape routes are explored and painted realistically so that the menacing situation is truly experienced. The Jewish question is dealt with as a theme, and it, along with the coming war, moves the story along.

The time is 1938 and Vienna is no longer a safe haven for Jews. Although they formerly thought of themselves as Viennese Jews, they soon discovered that they were simply Jews to the third Reich and nothing more. Humiliations and deprivations were heaped upon them, and those that could began to leave and go to other countries. Elise Landau's parents were waiting for their visa to America, her sister Margo had married and was leaving for California, but she, unable to secure a visa, was to become a servant in a manor home in England.

Afraid and alone, unsure of her next move, she departs by train for her new life. Instead of being served and waited upon, as she was used to, she would now be the servant in Tyneford House for the Rivers family, simply because she was a Jew, unable to remain safely in her own country. She was hoping that her parents would soon be able to secure a visa for her and bring her to America too, but for now, she was to work there for a year. She was 19 and ill prepared for the future that faced her. However, she was accepted into the Rivers household, and although life was hard, it was a bit better than she expected it to be. Mr. Rivers, the master of Tyneford treated her kindly, and she soon met his very charming, eligible bachelor son, Kit. They were from different worlds, of different religions and different stations in life, but still, an easy relationship developed. There were some times, when Elise’s behavior, and the way she interacted with the other characters, left the reader wondering if it was plausible. Overall, though, the story depicted the history of events, fairly accurately.

The class divisions, between the gentry and the servants, was very clearly defined. The upper classes were waited upon and the lower classes served. However, they looked upon their profession with respect and everyone had a place and knew and respected it. Elise must now learn hers.
The book really illuminated the deprivation caused by war, the degradation of the normal rhythm of life, until finally, false hopes mixed with the realization that there was no escape from the reality of the war with its hardships amd suffering. The false hopes that lingered were just that, false hopes; the war would not end quickly, lives would be lost. As one group complained of its suffering, another suffered far worse. Only at the end would the true measure of the destruction be calculated.

All of the characters were well drawn, from the highly professional Mrs. Ellsworth and proper Mr. Wrexham to the friendly and sweet Poppy and petty and haughty Diana, from Elise and her talented family, sister Margo, and parents Julian and Anna, to carefree, rambunctious Kit and his highly respected and gentlemanly father, Christopher Rivers, the squire of Tyneford; they all came alive with the authors apt descriptions.

I loved the book. It was historic fiction, a war story and a romance novel. Every sentence was crafted carefully to provide a beautiful visual image. I walked on the sandy beach at Tyneford with Elise, I felt her trepidation on the train to England, I felt her fear for her parents’ safety as she waited in her attic room for letters, and I felt her happiness as she fell in love. I listened to the book in an audio version and found the reader to be so expressive and able to change her voice to match each character so well, that I was never confused and I felt all of their emotions, their joy, their sadness, their pain.

A Must Read

I didnt want this book to end.

Elise Landau, a 19 year-old Viennese-born young lady, is forced

Elise Landau, a 19 year-old Viennese-born young lady, is forced to leave Austria due to the Nazi occupation. A life of luxury, with a famous writer father and opera singer mother, is transformed into a world where Elise is now a servant in an upper class English country family. Tyneford is a magical, fairy-tale land of beauty on land and the sea. Grievously homesick and missing the rest of her family, she waits for word from them while adapting to this new, difficult change in social status!

It turns out her sister and husband have made it to America but Julian and Anna have been unable to obtain a visa to leave Austria, but Elise doesn't know that. So at least Elise can hold onto hope while learning to adapt to the life of a maidservant. The novel fluctuates between her struggles to fit into this very different life and her finding peace as she gradually explores the beautiful land around her new home. Little by little, a normalcy develops until the son of her employer, Kit Rivers. They become friends who love the land and also love an occasional bout of unacceptable behavior that is quite harmless but shocks the daylights of both Mr. Rivers and Mr. Wrexham and Mrs. Ellsworth, the two who trained her in her hob duties. Wild and fun, these actions become the tie that draws them into a deeper closeness.

War changes everything and it's no different for Kit, Else, Mr. Rivers, the rest of the household staff, and the remaining fishers, farmers, and shepherds of Tyneford. The Germans begin to bomb Britain and the residents of Tyneford have their own secret defense force, helpless in a way to prevent the carnage of war but strong in a belief in their power to protect, a belief that ennobles all of Tyneford. Kit joins the military but quickly returns in a wounded state. Soon he will recover and leave, and from here the unbelievable happens. Relationships change in a way never anticipated by the reader and keep him or her rapidly turning pages to determine the possible, anticipated outcome.

The House of Tyneford is a lovely book, soft and fierce in all the right places, and a tale that tells the wartime tale in so many different points of view, adding several subplots of care and love to warm the heart and elicit intrigue in all involved. Nicely done, Ms. Solomons!

Atmosphere

It portrayed the English atmosphere and setting that I like so much. Nicely written. After the intensity of watching Downton Abbey, it was pale in comparison

Liked it.

Well written. Good characters. Good story. It kept me interested in the story with unexpected twists and turns. Sorry to read the last page.

I loved this book! I wanted to read really fast, to find out wh

I loved this book! I wanted to read really fast, to find out what happened, but I made myself read slowly to savor each page!

Well done, captured me!

Interesting historical fiction. Liked the characters. Enjoyed the discription of area surrounding Tyneford.

Wonderful Read! It is very well written and quite a page turner

Wonderful Read! It is very well written and quite a page turner. I used a whole box of Kleenex! You will love this book!

Loved this book!

What an amazing book!

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Wonderful

Couldn't put it down!

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.