Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

Ratings Explanation

Language: Common swear words used fewer than 20 times combined. Religious exclamations and profanity used about 20 times. 5 F-words. A few derogatory terms referring to Germans.

Violence: A plane strafes the countryside, aiming at Elise. Two planes battle in the sky. Elise slaps a downed German pilot. Some mention of  Jews being beaten or humiliated.

Sexual Content: One young woman asks another what she knows about “sexual intercourse”. They discuss it in fairly vague terms. One of them wants to have sex with  her boyfriend. A father tells his son that he could take Elise as a mistress. A couple has been drinking and they start to kiss. Things get heated and she has to elbow him to make him stop. Elise imagines having sex with Kit. An unmarried girl becomes pregnant. A man sees a woman naked in the bath. An unmarried couple makes love and there is a brief description. Several kisses.

Adult Themes: Jews in Vienna are persecuted and driven from their homes. Elise knows that the German pilot despises her because she is a Jew. Moving on after the death of a loved one. Premarital sex. A young woman becomes pregnant out of wedlock. War.

Synopsis

“Viennese Jewess, 19, seeks position as domestic servant. Speaks fluid English. I will cook your goose.”

After posting the above advertisement, Elise Landau is offered the position of parlor maid at Tyneford, an estate in the English countryside. Leaving her home, family and life of ease behind in Vienna, Elise attempts to adjust to the life of a servant instead of a privileged young woman. Some months after her arrival, the young and dashing heir to Tyneford, Kit Rivers, returns home and he and Elise strike up a friendship. Although their relationship raises eyebrows, Kit is reckless and full of fun and he makes life at Tyneford bearable for Elise, but as war looms for Europe, Kit feels compelled to enlist and fight for England. The war will change everything for Elise, her hopes and dreams, her family, and even her name.

I enjoyed The House at Tyneford, but I wouldn’t categorize it as a favorite. Elise’s plight was interesting with her leaving Austria to become a maid. Her life in Vienna had been a privileged one of parties and operas, but in England she was just the maid. Because of her background she was not welcomed by the other servants as one of their own. She was also unable to be a part of the family at Tyneford. This social no-man’s-land highlighted the morés of the time and place and Elise’s struggles in navigating them. On the other hand, the book also shows how many expectations were suspended during war time.

My favorite part of the book was the house itself and the way it changed through the story based on the experiences of the characters. All houses, no matter the size, are just houses, but the people in them make the house interesting and alive.

I found the strong language (f-words) out of context and distracting from the story.  I was thinking at first that I would recommend this book to my mother, but in the end decided against  it. This book is appropriate for adults.