"The House at Tyneford"

Well, I've finished my second book of 2013.

It was "The House at Tyneford" by Natasha Solomons and it is the story of a young Jewish woman from Vienna named Elise. The book begins in 1938, and Elise's well-to-do parents have arranged for her to seek refuge as a parlor maid in England. Like most people, I've been exposed to many stories of World War II through books, films, and television, but this one came from a perspective that I haven't seen before. It seems strange, given how many there were, but I've never heard the story of a Jewish exile before, and having a character who was about the same age as me made it easy to relate to her, even if her life shared few similarities to my own.
Without giving too much away, the ending was messy enough for me to find it somewhat realistic, but tidy enough to leave me satisfied. Overall, I enjoyed the book for its description of the English coast, the preparations for war, and life of the moneyed classes both in Vienna and in England. Most of what I've read about the book describes it as a romance, and while romance occupies many of its pages, I don't think people looking to read a "romance" would be entirely satisfied. It is romantic, but the romance story does not seem to be the main concern of the author, and I appreciated that.

Up next on my reading list is "The House at Tyneford." It's been represented as a "Downtown Abbey"-esque period-piece. It's a romance, but not in the harlequin sense.

The reviews on Amazon have been mostly positive (with a few complaints about the novel being predictable,) but I haven't talked to anyone who has read it. I don't normally read romantic novels, but this one caught my eye. It's set during World War II, and the heroine is the daughter of an opera singer and a novelist, but her family is also Jewish and living in Vienna in 1938. She's sent to England to become a parlor maid.

One book down, 25 to go!

My goal for 2013 is to read 26 books by the end of the year. Rereading books counts, but I think I'm more likely to choose titles I haven't read before, simply for the variety. Of course, I'm already planning on rereading "The Hobbit" since I haven't read it in about ten years and I'd like to compare it to the movie
(which I still haven't seen.)

I just finished reading my first book of the year, "Sailor Twain" by Mark Siegel.

It was first published as a web comic that updated a few times a week, so that may explain the problem with the resolution that I'll describe later (though I won't give anything away about the plot.)