Tuesday 2 September 2014

Review ~ The Founder of the House by Naomi Jacob

The Founder of the House
Corazon Books
August 2014

The Founder of the House is the start of an epic family saga which focuses on the trials and tribulations of the Gollantz family, who are antiquities sellers amongst the great and the good of C19 Paris. In this time of social and political unrest, the Gollantz family and in particular, Emmanuel Gollantz, must try to live up to his father, Hermann’s  principles of reliability, sincerity and respect, but in a time of turmoil this is sometimes hard to achieve and even harder to maintain.

The Founder of the House is the first in a seven-novel series which will see the Gollantz family develop over several generations, when the politics and policies of a bygone era will be shaped by world events on a grand scale. There is much to enjoy in this opening story, the locations of Paris, Vienna and London are well described, however, as with any new series, there is much to take in and at times the narration, may seem a little dated to modern readers, but it’s worth persevering with, as there is a wonderful awareness of time and place. The Gollantz family live through some momentous times and I enjoyed becoming involved with the many twists and turns in the novel.

In this fiftieth anniversary year of the death of the author, Naomi Jacob, it is especially appropriate that some of her best books should be brought back to life. There's something quite special about the introduction of a forgotten set of books, and to give them a new lease of life, for a new audience, only adds to the pleasure of discovery for a new generation of readers of romantic fiction.


My thanks to Ian Skillicorn at Great Stories with Heart
Corazon Books for my ecopy of this book.


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