I don’t know about you, but that sort of plug (“If you like “Downton Abbey” you’ll love…) for a book often leads to disappointment, but at a book club last night I found myself raving so much about this book that I realize in this case it lives up to expectations.
“The House at Tyneford” is amazing and if you’ve watched “Downton Abbey” it only helps you visualize the countryside and people. Set in the spring of 1938, Elise Landau must end her glamorous life in Vienna because it’s no longer safe for Jews. Her parents arrange for her to become a parlor maid in England.
Tyneford, a fabulous manor on the bay, based on the ghost village of Tyneham on the Dorset coast, where servants tend to the guests and the households every need. However, like in “Downton Abbey”, this is a time of change and with the coming of the war and changes in class attitudes, the world is transforming. When Kit, the son and heir to the estate comes home, he strikes up a friendship with Elise that will change everything.
A fabulous story – tragic, but easy to read. The characters really come alive and are likable.