The Song of Hartgrove Hall

Praise for
The Song of Hartgrove Hall

“Rarely does a novel capture both my heart and mind, but Natasha Solomons's new novel gripped me from the first chapter. Written in exquisite and razor-sharp prose,
The Song of Hartgrove Hall
explores the bonds of family, the power of music, and the very nature of what it means to leave behind a legacy. I cannot recommend this novel strongly enough. It read like music itself and its beautiful and haunting notes lingered long after I finished the last page.”

—Alyson Richman, internationally bestselling author of
The Lost Wife

“Packed with beautiful writing and marvelously conceived characters,
The Song of Hartgrove Hall
moves effortlessly between the threadbare riches of England's postwar country house society and the discordant ambitions of modern life, all bound together by a timeless love story that will break you and heal you. Natasha Solomons is a writer after my own heart.”

—Beatriz Williams,
New York Times
bestselling author of
The Secret Life of Violet Grant

“Natasha Solomons crafts a symphony of words in this luminous novel of a young musician on the verge of great passion. From the very beginning, I was swept away in the music of the story. Brimming with the intertwined melodies of love, loss, and regained joy,
The Song of Hartgrove Hall
soars.”

—Jessica Brockmole, author of
Letters from Skye

“A delightful, moving, utterly believable family saga.”

—
The Times
 (London)

“[A] tender, lyrical novel of family and fame.”

—
Sunday Express 
(UK)

“Here is a green and pleasant portrait of longing for a lost home, full of English eccentricity.”

—
The Jewish Chronicle
(UK)

“Books rarely make me cry, but I reluctantly admit to more than a few specks of dust making their way into my eyes when reading this.”

—
fRoots
(UK)

“Moving and engaging . . . a captivating story that stays with you.”

—
Choice
(UK)

Praise for
The Gallery of Vanished Husbands

“Natasha Solomons scores another win with
The Gallery of Vanished Husbands
 . . . a beautifully told story that will resonate with readers who have ever felt there was more inside of them than what was expected of them.”

—
The Plain Dealer
(Cleveland)

“Solomons creates in Juliet a detailed character portrait of a woman who exhibits strength and poise under less than ideal conditions. Each chapter tells the story of one of Juliet's paintings and of important events in her life, and readers will respond to the realistic and beautifully flawed characteristics assigned to her.”

—
Library Journal
 (starred review)

“Reads like a quiet domestic mystery and a romantic drama rolled into one. . . . Absorbing and exciting.”

—
RT Book Reviews
(Rating: ****)

“Solomons provides wonderful descriptions of London in the 1950s and 1960s, as the city reawakens after years of deprivation and war, to become vibrant and lively, just like Juliet herself.”

—
Historical Novel Society

“Solomons . . . has lavished care on every word and ensured this charming, mesmerising story is ultimately about the triumph of the human spirit. . . . A warm, luscious read that brims with passion and skilfully evokes a bygone era. . . . A beautifully written tale about a woman who was left socially dead but rose again by seizing life.”

—
The Times
(London)

“Captivates you with its charm, quirkiness and old-fashioned storytelling.”

—
Daily Mail
(London)

“A charming tale.”

—
Good Housekeeping
(UK)

Praise for
The House at Tyneford

“Like
Downton
, this romance compellingly explores the upstairs-downstairs dynamic of estate life.”

—
Entertainment Weekly

“Natasha Solomons has written a lovely, atmospheric novel full of charming characters and good, old-fashioned storytelling. Fans of
Downton Abbey
and Kate Morton's
The Forgotten Garden
will absolutely adore
The House at Tyneford
.”

—Kristin Hannah,
New York Times
bestselling author of
The Nightingale

“
The House at Tyneford
is an exquisite tale of love, family, suspense, and survival. Capturing with astonishing detail and realism a vanished world of desire and hope trapped beneath rigid class convention, Natasha Solomons's stunning new novel tells the story of Elise Landau, a Jewish Austrian teenager from a family of artists, who is forced to flee her home in Vienna carrying only a guide to household management and her father's last novel. . . . Elise hides as a parlor maid in a fine English country estate, but soon she discovers that passion can be found in the most unexpected places. Already a bestseller in Britain, American readers will thrill to
The House at Tyneford
.”

—Katherine Howe,
New York Times
bestselling author of
The House of Velvet and Glass

“
The House at Tyneford
is a wonderful, old-fashioned novel that takes you back in time to the manor homes, aristocracy and domestic servants of England. In this setting, Natasha Solomons gives us a courageous heroine whose incredible love story will keep you in suspense until the final page.”

—Kathleen Grissom, author of
The Kitchen House

“Solomons's poignant tale provides richly textured details that hold the reader's interest. Fans of Ann Patchett will find Solomons's style similar and will appreciate how the subdued tone and the quiet of the countryside contrast with the roar of war.”

—Library Journal

“Halfway through, I was so invested in this gorgeously written story that I could barely read on, fearful that what I wished to happen would never come to pass. Permeated with an exquisite sadness, it reminded me of
Atonement
 . . . I adored this book.”

—Donna Marchetti,
The Plain Dealer
(Cleveland)

“Stunning . . .
The House at Tyneford
is an exquisite tale of love, family, suspense and survival.”

—
The Times
(London)

“Both a love story set during the Second World War and an elegy to the English country house . . . the greatest pleasure of the novel is its stirring narrative and the constant sense of discovery.”

—
Times Literary Supplement
(London)

A
LSO BY
N
ATASHA
S
OLOMONS

The Gallery of Vanished Husbands

The House at Tyneford

Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in
English

PLUME

An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

375 Hudson Street

New York, New York 10014

Copyright © 2015 by Natasha Solomons

Originally published in Great Britain as
The Song Collector
by Sceptre, an imprint of Hodder & Stoughton.

Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRA
DA

eBook ISBN: 978-0-698-40702-2

LIBRARY OF CONGR
ESS CATALOGING-IN-PU
BLICATION DATA

Names: Solomons, Natasha.

Title: The song of Hartgrove Hall : a novel / Natasha Solomons.

Other titles: Song collector

Description: New York City : Plume, [2015]

Identifiers: LCCN 2015038594 | ISBN 9780147517593 (softcover)

Subjects: | BISAC: FICTION / Literary. | FICTION / Romance / Contemporary.

Classification: LCC PR6119.O455 S66 2015 | DDC 823/.92—dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015038594

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

For Luke and his grandparents

 

Woman much missed, how you call to me, call to me.

—Thomas Hardy, ‘The Voice'

Worse than thieves are ballad collectors, for when they capture and imprison in cold type a folk song, at the same time they kill it.

—John Lomax, introduction to
American Ballads and Folk Songs
(1932)