Product Description

Home Place, Sussex, 1937. The English family at home...

For two unforgettable summers they gathered together, safe from the advancing storm clouds of war. In the heart of the Sussex countryside these were still sunlit days of childish games, lavish family meals and picnics on the beach.

Three generations of the Cazalet family played out their lives - with their relatives, their children and their servants - and the fascinating triangle of their affairs...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17273 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-01
• Format: Unabridged
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 9999 pages

About the Author

Elizabeth Jane Howard is the author of fourteen highly acclaimed novels, most recently Love All. The Cazalet Chronicles - The Light Years, Marking Time, Confusion and Casting Off - have become established as modern classics and were adapted for a major BBC television series. In 2002 Macmillan published her autobiography, Slipstream. In that same year she was awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.

Customer Reviews

Fascinating read
Not having been born until 1973, and growing up in another country, I can't say whether Elizabeth Jane Howard's fictitious account of the life and lives of an English family during WWII and beyond is historically accurate or not, but with this much detail, she must be writing either from her own experience or from extensive research. It certainly felt very real to me.

Told from the points of view of different members of this large, extended upper-class family and its household, The Light Years gives an account of English life in the lead up to the second world war. The author gives fine details of the running of the household inside the family's country manor, the social conditions of that time and the political situation as seen through the eyes of young, middle-aged and elderly, male and female, upper, middle and lower classes, providing a fantastic tapestry of life at that time.

All of this detail could have the potential to be dry and boring, but the characters are so beautifully and realistically drawn that the reader can't help but be drawn right inside the novel and feel a part of the family. These characters begin to affect the reader in a way that is rarely seen, and after finishing "The Light Years", I couldn't wait to begin the second instalment, "Marking Time".

First of four books in the Cazalet Chronicle
I read this book following seeing some of the TV production recently. I found that it 'grabbed' me as soon as I started reading it and proved to be a thoroughly enjoyable read, so much so that I proceeded straight on to the next of the series, "Marking Time".

The book gives an excellent picture of life immediately pre-WWII and is an effective social statement of the state of the 'classes' at that time.

A wonderfully written, compelling read
Having enjoyed Falling, by Elizabeth Jane Howard, I decided to start the four books in the Cazalet Chronicle at the beginning with 'The Light Years'. This is a wonderful read, which is totally compelling in its account of pre-war Britain as seen through the eyes of the Cazalet family. The characters are strong, likeable and totally convincing. Highly recommended.