I have somewhat mixed feelings about The Novel in the Viola by Natasha Solomons. On the one hand, it was an entertaining book to spend a rainy afternoon with. On the other hand, it reminded me strongly of other books I have read – if you’re familiar with Eva Ibbotson’s books, particularly A Countess Below Stairs, this will feel very familiar – and that lack of originality did bother me somewhat. There was never a moment when you didn’t know exactly what was going to happen. Still, predictability is not necessarily a bad thing in a comfort read.
Elise Landau comes from a Viennese Jewish family, daughter of an exquisite opera singer and a renowned experimental novelist. As the novel begins in 1938, Elise, at the age of 19, finds herself on her way to England. While Margot, Elise’s sister, and her husband have obtained visas for America and Elise’s parents hope to do the same, they know they will not be able to get one for Elise. But England will accept Jewish refugees willing to take up positions as domestic servants, so off Elise goes. For the middle-class Elise, accustomed to having household staff, the shift from pampered youngest daughter to working maid is jarring. But she quickly settles into her new role, falling in love with her new home, Tyneford House. And it is also not long before she is falling in love with Kit Rivers, the university-aged son of the house, and the line between servant and master begins to blur. But there is always the prospect of war on the horizon and Elise’s happiness in her new life cannot ease her worries about the family she’s left behind in Austria.
Elise is one big bundle of confused emotions, from start to finish. At times this was understandable, at others not. I liked her and yet I never felt I knew or understood her, which is a frustrating feeling when it’s a novel written from the first person point of view. I think much of my confusion came from her relationship with Kit. None of the descriptions of her time with him conveyed much emotion. Many confused thoughts, absolutely, but not a lot of emotions. I couldn’t for the life of me understand why she found Kit remotely appealing. Kit and Elise never really talk – well, they must at their English lessons but the reader doesn’t see those – and their relationship seems based on simply being of about the same age and in the same place at the same time. Kit has a brash, careless energy to him that is incredibly off-putting to me but is apparently his most attractive trait for others. Happily, it’s clear all along what his fate is going to be so I didn’t really worry too much when I was feeling troubled by his suitability.
The much more interesting relationship at Tyneford is between Elise and Mr Rivers, Kit’s father. Throughout the novel, they seem to understand one another. While we rarely see Kit and Elise connect on an intellectual or emotional level, Elise and Mr Rivers’ interactions are well documented and the friendship and affection that develops between them seems much more natural. Also, clearly inevitable and highly telegraphed, but I can only be so picky when I know it is leading somewhere I’ll like.
This isn’t a particularly original or memorable novel but it is an entertaining one. I doubt I’m likely ever to reread but I did enjoy reading it this once since I’ll never turn down any novel that combines so many of my favourite topics (English country houses, the Second World War, and Austrians). Still, if I want to read about privileged refugees taking up positions as servants I’ll always turn to Ibbotson’s A Countess Below Stairs and if I want to be very specific and read about an Austrian refugee making her home in England during the war while falling in love with the man responsible for bringing her to safety (and, really, when wouldn’t I want to read such a story?), again I’ll turn to Ibbotson, this time The Morning Gift. The Novel in the Viola has its charms and I do think on the whole that it is stronger than Solomons’ first novel but I still feel like she’s a writer who is not quite there yet. Very, very close but not quite. Both her books so far have been entertaining with just the kind of cozy, gentle plots I like best and I’m looking forward to seeing what she comes up with next.
The Captive Reader 
I’m fascinated by anything to do with WW2 at the moment so I was really looking forward to this, and was quite disappointed. I pretty much agree with everything you say here. When I reviewed it people mentioned The Countess Below Stairs, which I still haven’t read but clearly should, as what I found most interesting about this novel was the historical stuff (posh foreigners working as domestic servants) about which I knew nothing. I haven’t read her first and don’t feel all that inclined to though I’ve heard some people say it’s better.
Yes, you clearly should read A Countess Below Stairs! It doesn’t pretend to be anything other than a fun, light romantic novel but, as such, it is superbly entertaining.
Sometimes I find it is difficult to review these types of books. I appreciate the honesty. Like Harriet I am fascinated with books, movies, and such associated with WW2, but I’m not sure if I would pick this book up. Thanks again for the review.
I too am always eager to read books about WWII, especially anything about refugees from Central Europe. This was better than a lot of novels about the period (and goodness knows it is a popular era) but just not good enough in the end to be memorable.
I just want to say two things:
1) I find that most of the books I pick that are comfort reads are pretty predictable (unless I’m reading a mystery!) and I’m fine with that… Sometimes you just want to know that a novel isn’t going to do anything too wild or go off the rails.
2) I love that one of your favourite topics is “Austrians”. Hee!
Who doesn’t want to read more about Austrians? Whenever I find a book set in Austria or featuring Austrians, I get quite giddy. But that’s nothing compared to what happens when I find a book set in the Czech Republic or about a Czech character!
And I agree that comfort reads need some level of predictability but this was a little much for me. I like to know where the story is going but still have there be some surprises along the way, not to be able to anticipate every single plot twist.
I still haven’t finished this, and I started it about four months ago. Natasha was so lovely when I met her that I feel guilty for not enjoying it – but you’re right, the closeness to Countess Under the Stairs is startling. I thought Mr. Rosenblum was a much, much better book – making me think that maybe she wrote Novel in the Viola first, and rushed it out in the wake of her success?
Everything I’ve read about Natasha makes me feel so awful for not liking her books more! She seems so delightful, which is why I’m still excited to see what she writes next. But, in the end, it is the book and not the author I am judging. I thought Mr Rosenblum was a much more creative book and had a more realistic blend of humour and drama but I think this was a little more even and that technically in terms of plotting and characterization it was more developed.
I haven’t read that particular Ibbotson book, The Countess Below Stairs, but it’s on my Wish List. But some writers have a knack of choosing similar themes.
It’s a very enjoyable book, I hope you like it once you get your hands on a copy!
Personally I prefered this one to Mr Rosenblum, but then I was not aware of “Countess Under the Stairs” until I read this blog post and so I approached Solomons’s book without that reference point. It is perhaps also worth remarking that Mr Rosenblum is more of a comic novel, a genre with which I often have trouble.
I can see what you are getting at when you say: “Kit and Elise never really talk … and their relationship seems based on simply being of about the same age and in the same place at the same time.” Then again, in real life I never cease to be amazed how often people seem to form friendships, and indeed romances, simply on account of being flung together and with next to no knowledge of each others opinions. Perhaps it is just us wordy types who feel the need to explore the mind of potential soul mates before committing ourselves?
I prefer it to Mr Rosenblum as well, though where Mr Rosenblum sometimes struggled to blend comedy and drama this book simply does away with humour altogether. As for Kit and Elise, I do recognize that not every match has an intellectual rationalisation and I can usually accept that, as long as the chemistry is there. I just didn’t see evidence of any energy between these two, whether its source be intellectual, physical, or goodness knows what, and without that I can’t understand what was meant to sustain their romance.
[…] It is her fourth novel (I read the first two – Mr Rosenblum Dreams in English and The Novel in the Viola – with some enthusiasm but could not make it through her third) and it is everything I had […]