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The House at Tyneford  By  cover art

The House at Tyneford

By: Natasha Solomons
Narrated by: Justine Eyre
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Publisher's summary

An irresistible World War II story of a forbidden upstairs-downstairs romance in a great English country house.

It’s the spring of 1938 and no longer safe to be a Jew in Vienna. Nineteen-year-old Elise Landau is forced to leave her glittering life of parties and champagne to become a parlor maid in England. She arrives at Tyneford, the great house on the bay, where servants polish silver and serve drinks on the lawn. But war is coming, and the world is changing. When Kit, the son of Tyneford’s master, returns home, he and Elise strike up an unlikely friendship that will transform Tyneford - and Elise - forever.

A pageturning tale of family, love, loss, and the power of the human spirit set against the perennially popular backdrop of World War II England, Natasha Solomons’ The House at Tyneford is upmarket romantic fiction at its best.

Natasha Solomons is a screenwriter and the internationally bestselling author of Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English and Mr. Rosenblum’s List. She lives with her husband in Dorset, England.

©2011 Natasha Solomons (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Natasha Solomons has written a lovely, atmospheric novel full of charming characters and good, oldfashioned storytelling.” (Kristin Hannah, New York Times best-selling author)

What listeners say about The House at Tyneford

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
  • Em
  • 04-24-12

Mixed Opinion

I didn’t realize I even liked this book until I got to the end and found myself sobbing in the car on the way to work. Clearly it affected me. So that’s the good news. If you listen to this I think you will care for the characters, possibly even despite yourself. But I picked this up because it had been billed to me as “an ode to the old English country house” and “for Downton Abbey addicts.” But I’m not sure it was either of these things. Despite the title, the house didn’t feel like the central character. (Perhaps the visual evocation would have been stronger had I been reading?) But I felt it was the onslaught of history - awful, looming, threatening, and oversees – that served as the main influence in this book. It was the background horror of the Holocaust that brought me to tears.

This novel is about a young Jewish woman from “the smart set” in Vienna who takes a position as a parlour maid in an English House in 1938. While she is sheltered from the actualities of life back in Vienna - the silence created by the slowing postal system, the delayed appearance of her parents, the ineffectiveness of money sent to literally pay their ransom out of Austria, these things make up the negative space that consumes this novel. But the central love stories that take up the day to day at Tyneford, the fussy butler and particular housekeeper, even the awful society visitors – they don’t stand a chance against the things that you aren’t seeing and hearing. I guess that’s why it felt like a vacuum to me - and not an entirely satisfying one.

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44 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • MJ
  • 09-15-13

Highly Recommend This Book

I know I've just read a good book when I can't wait to share it with my friends.

The publisher's summary makes it seem like a typically-formulaic romance novel. IT IS NOT. For one thing, it's pretty clean. No bodice-ripping scenes involved, but there is some "colorful dialog" just to keep things "realistic". Normally, I don't dig romance novels, but my daughter raved about it, so I gave it a listen. It is the first book by Natasha Solomons that I have listened to, but it won't be the last. She is such a gifted writer. Her style is descriptive without being verbose which, as I'm sure any writer knows, can be a challenge. I would compare her writing to that of Susanna Kearsley because it has that same overall sense of elegant melancholy. She made me feel such compassion for Elise, who just didn't fit in anywhere. I was able to sense her loneliness and profound loss without pitying her. This is one of those books that I wanted to stretch on into eternity. The characters are well-developed, but not overly so. The author did her job well, leaving me wanting more.

Now, about the narrator: she usually grates on my nerves. I forgot that I had promised myself never to listen to anything she narrates ever again, but I decided that I wasn't going to let her ruin the book for me. To give credit where it is due, she didn't do a bad job with this book, aside from not voicing men very well (it IS difficult for a woman to read masculine dialog). In fact, there are some scenes that just would not have had the proper pathos had I just read the book. The scene where Elise first meets Kit (while she's trying to expres her frustration by shouting at the sea, using all of the English swear words she knows) would not have been nearly as funny either if I hadn't listened to the audiobook.

Without giving away any of the plotlines, I'd like to add that you should have a box of tissues handy before you listen. I wish someone would have warned me ahead of time.

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31 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Not quite finished, but I hate for it to end

Where does The House at Tyneford rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It ranks high and I have never written a review before. I felt though, after reading some of the reviews regarding the narrator, that I had to say my piece!

What was one of the most memorable moments of The House at Tyneford?

I listen to many audible books and have listened and enjoyed for years. I listen while in the car and sometimes hate to reach my destination. I generally find that I have to listen to the beginning of a story more than once - as my mind is on my driving, it sometimes requires an extra listen to establish who is who and what is what. I found the very beginning a touch difficult for that reason. I did not listen again to the very beginning but found myself able to get into the story quickly and familiarize myself with the characters easily. I was immediately brought into the story. I am now at the end - not quite finished - but sadly, I really do not want it to end. I am so touched by this story. I read so many books from this time period - perhaps being Jewish, the subject is exceptionally near to my heart. For me, this was a very different take on it - so many things to realize about this time in history - things I have never thought about before. I wouldn't want to tell the story - it's better for you to just read and enjoy and savor yourself.

What about Justine Eyre’s performance did you like?

Now this is the reason that I am indeed writing my first review. When I read the reviews I discovered many listeners who were very unhappy with the performance. I listen to so many audible books - while I am always listening to a story myself, my husband and I are always sharing a story together - we are in the car a lot :)
I love Justine Eyre's performance - it is fantastic - I am totally involved with the characters because of her - her accents are wonderful - the feelings that she portrays with her words - I love it. She is another reason why I will be so unhappy to finish this story. I will search for other books that she has narrated. I have come to look forward to hearing her voice alone as much as the story.
I am so dismayed to read the negative things that people have said.
My son in law is a writer and of course I love his books. I understand how important the narrator is and I was disappointed with the narration of one of his books (my lips are sealed - I will never tell). The interesting thing though was that so many people LOVED the narration of his book. So I guess it is a very personal thing.
For me, the narration of this book added to the story - I loved it.

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20 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

It was just Ok

Not sure how I feel about this book I know I didn't love it but it did keep my attention which can be a difficult task. I just felt the story was kind of boring not much to it and a bit predictable. However I did like the characters so I wanted to listen and find out what happens. It also took a while to get use to the narrator but once I sped up the speed of the book to 1.5 it was good.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

I couldn't listen to it.

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A different narrator

Would you ever listen to anything by Natasha Solomons again?

Probably

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Justine Eyre?

-anybody else I've ever listened to

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The House at Tyneford?

I didn't listen long enough to make a valid assessment of the story.

Any additional comments?

Justine Eyre's voice irritated me so much that I couldn't listen to the story.
What I heard was promising, so I tried listening, but had to abandon for the safety of my iPod, which I came perilously close to throwing on the floor and stepping on !!! I can't describe the voice adequately except to say that I spent more time imitating it than listening to it.

I put the book aside for a week and tried again - thinking that a different mood might prove to be the answer - but no! I won't be buying any more books with that narrator.
If I could have given no stars for the narration - I would have.
Thanks.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Wonderful story

The accent of the narrorator got to be a little much after a while. Other than that is was a good story. I often found myself lost while listening. It might have been easier to read than listen to.

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9 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it !

I seriously loved this story ! It is reminiscent of Downton Abbey (story takes place mainly on an English country estate just prior to and during WWII) but it's characters and plot stand on their own. Lovely discriptions of happy family times in Vienna before the war, and gorgeous discriptions of the rugged English coast, the story has a romantic sheen that is slowly dimmed as the reality of war intrudes even to this remote English village. And Justine Eyre's narration was perfection.

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Could not stand the Narrator!!!

It was hard to get interested in the story because the narrator's voice was so cloying.
I tried 2 times to listen to this book which was recommended by a friend ...could not get past the voice.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Tyneford

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This book didn't have the grace of Downton Abby, but the story was solid. Certainly a coming of age story in time of WWII. I would recommend the book. It provides yet another story of how people existed during WWII and the heartache and anxiety that was felt by all.

What other book might you compare The House at Tyneford to and why?

I recently read War Brides and found that it gave me good background for what was happening outside of big houses like Tyneford. The Distant Hours, by Kate Morton, was a similar story of living in the big estate during war. I think I enjoyed Tyneford the least of these three, actually. Still, I did enjoy it and would recommend it.

Who was the most memorable character of The House at Tyneford and why?

Elise, the main character was the most memorable. It was her story, her life we followed.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Liked it

aka The Novel in the Viola - I enjoyed the story. If you think about that time, it could have happened like this. In WW II anything was possible. Beeing sent from Vienna to Tynefordhouse in England, young Elise Landau is forced to become a parlour-maid.She knows nothing about England, except that she won't like it. Always expecting to be called off to the USA by her parents, Elise has some difficulties to stick to the english rules. Falling in Love with the son of the House, Kit, she and him expierence all the difficulties and changes in life which an upperclass boy and a jewish 'housemaid' go through.
Still longing to reunite with her parents, she invests her mothers pearls and keeps the newest novel of her father in the hidingplace of the Viola. Life takes it's unordinary way in those times and as sad and not unexpected, if not to say weird turns Elise/Alice's life may take - I was hooked from start right to the end.

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