“Leaving Vienna is a bit like dying”, but if we are not the Goldbaum can we understand the poignant bond of a family that makes Natasha Solomons’ book wonderful? We can. And we do it. Sweating on a summer night with the light of the lamp on the bedside table that reverberates heat while the volume we hold in our hands, emotions. Original title The House of Gold, the historical novel by the English author is loosely based on the story of the Rothschild family, to be pronounced German, a European family of Jewish origin, bankers of high finance. And so we know the Goldbaum, in 1911, when at the height of power they hold the threads of the governments of all Europe through their own banks. Branches of the family in every finance capital, cousins who communicate with each other through couriers, are said in Vienna to be so rich and powerful that they rent the sun on bright days for them to shine. With the clear, effective, and fresh style of Solomons in The House of Gold we read the first pages immersed in an environment that reminds us of Downton Abby, it will be the era, and the perfect descriptions of the environments. In Vienna there are Greta and Otto, brothers, neighbors for an indissoluble and opposite affection. In a family with strict rules, where one gets married between Goldbaum of the different houses, with cousins, as in the royal dynasties, Greta is rebellious, obstinate, while Otto is firm, solid, fond of stars.
“We know that we can only trust the family. It is not that we succeed despite being Jews, despite being Goldbaum. We are successful precisely because we are Jews and we are Goldbaum “
Being Jews in a Europe on the brink of the First World War. Greta is destined to marry Albert of the English Goldbaum. With the transfer to Temple Court in the residence of her in-laws and her husband, Greta feels caged. Trapped in formalisms, in a relationship with Albert where there seems to be no love and attraction. A difficulty that will push her brother to reach her, but the real turning point will come from Albert’s mother, who will give her a hundred acres to give life to her garden. In the almost unnerving care of plants and flowers, Greta learns to find her own place, but always with the imprint and tenacity of a brilliant character. So while the conflict is about to break, romance and finance is intertwined with the incessant beat of history.
