Elise Landau cherished her life with her family in Vienna. Her singer mother, Anna was the epitome of beauty to Elise. Her sister, Margot, inherited her mother's beauty and musical talent. Her handsome father, Julian, was a novelist. Although Elise didn't inherit any of her sibling's talents, they all found ways to make Elise feel as special and loved as possible. But their happy home in Vienna would be turned upside down after the onset of World War II. Margot would marry and move to California, and Elise would join an English family in England as a domestic. Her mother and father assure her that she will only stay in England until they can secure a visa for her to join them in New York, but Elise fears her family will never be reunited again.

Elise arrives in England as an awkward nineteen-year old girl with an accent most people find hard to understand and clothes which single her out as a foreigner. The strangeness of the English makes Elise long for the comfort her cozy apartment in Vienna surrounded by the love of her family. But when Elise arrives at Tyneford she cannot fathom the extraordinary life that awaits her. The emotional ties Elise forms at Tyneford will sustain her through the painful separation of her family and open up the possibility of a new beginning she never could have imagined.

Once Elise settles into her new position, she discovers that she knows nothing about the upkeep of a house, especially an English Manor House. When Kit, the heir of Tyneford, arrives back home, his unexpected friendship with Elise will change the future of Tyneford House. But Elise and Kit's friendship does not consume the novel. As Elise transitions from a homesick immigrant to pivotal figure at Tyneford, she continues to long for the family she left behind. As the years go by without hearing from her parents, Elise will never give up hope of finding her mother and father. In the midst of a war that ravages Europe, Elise finds a new home in the most unlikely of places while never forgetting the home she left behind.

Natasha Solomons delivers a gorgeously written novel set in the magnificent backdrop of a grand English Manor House. Solomons' talent at bringing the beauty of Tyneford to life through splendid and intricate descriptions makes readers want to step into the pages of the novel. THE HOUSE AT TYNEFORD is a truly stunning novel. Elise's emotional yearning for the ability to relive every moment at Tyneford prepares readers for a journey that will stay with you long after finish the novel. I have not enjoyed a novel about a historic family and house since Kate Morton's The House at Riverton.

Book Summary

"It's the spring of 1938 and no longer safe to be a Jew in Vienna. Nineteen-year-old Elise Landau realizes her only means of escape is to advertise her services as a domestic servant in England. Fate brings her ad to the attention of Christopher Rivers, handsome scion of the aristocratic Rivers family and master of Tyneford. An anxious Elise arrives at Tyneford and immediately falls under its spell. When Christopher's young son, Kit, returns home, the two strike up an unlikely friendship that will change Tyneford--and Elise--forever"--