The Founder of the House — Naomi Jacob

A gripping saga of family ties and rivalries, love and ambition in nineteenth century Paris, Vienna and London.

The Founder of the House is the first book in the bestselling Gollantz Family Saga which traces the lives and loves of several generations of Jewish antique dealers in Europe. The seven-novel series explores how one family's destiny is shaped by the politics and attitudes of the time, as well as by the choices and actions of its own members.

Hermann Gollantz, is a Jewish antique dealer, who lives his life according to the principles of loyalty, honesty and honour instilled in him as a child. He is torn between his principles of loyalty and honesty, and protecting his beloved wife Rachel from a harsh truth. But these ideals are ruthlessly exploited by his wife's family, threatening everything that is important to him. Protecting his beloved wife, Rachel, from the truth carries a great cost.

His young son, Emmanuel Gollantz, becomes involved with the inner circle of the Viennese Court, where his passion for the married baroness, Caroline Lukoes, has far-reaching consequences both for himself and the House of Gollantz.