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The Light Years

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What to expect

Told with exceptional grace and read beatifully by Indira Varma, The Light Years is a modern classic of twentieth-century English life and is the first novel in Elizabeth Jane Howard’s extraordinary, bestselling family saga, The Cazalet Chronicles.

'Compelling, moving, unputdownable . . . Maybe my favourite books ever' - Marian Keyes, bestselling author of My Favourite Mistake

1937. Every summer, the Cazalet brothers – Hugh, Edward and Rupert – return to the family home in the heart of the Sussex countryside with their wives and children. There, they are joined by their formidable parents and unmarried sister Rachel to enjoy two glorious months of picnics, games and sun-drenched excursions to the coast. But not even this idyllic setting can soothe the siblings’ fears and heartache.

Hugh, haunted by memories of the Great War, is terrified at the looming prospect of a second. Edward, charming and handsome, is torn between his wife and his latest infidelity. Rupert, a talented painter, is in turmoil over his inability to please his demanding new wife. Meanwhile, Rachel’s unflinching loyalty to the family means risking her one chance at happiness . . .

'She helps us to do the necessary thing – open our eyes and our hearts' – Hilary Mantel, bestselling author of The Mirror and the Light

The Light Years is the first volume in the extraordinary Cazalet Chronicles. Continue the dazzling historical series with Marking Time.

Critics Review

What magic transforms a book into a compelling, moving, unputdownable read? I don’t know, but whatever it is, [The Cazalet Chronicles] have it. The characters! I cared about them so much. They behave in interesting, venal, believable ways. They’re recognisably human: frustrating, flawed, lovable. Maybe my favourite books ever
Marian Keyes, bestselling author of My Favourite Mistake
She is one of those novelists who shows, through her work, what the novel is for . . . She helps us to do the necessary thing – open our eyes and our hearts
Hilary Mantel, bestselling author of the Wolf Hall trilogy
The Light Years is an immense piece of work and should be read by everyone. She writes about family relationships in the most moving and beautiful way
Bella Mackie, bestselling author of How to Kill Your Family
Like [Elena] Ferrante, Howard’s fictional sphere is domestic and yet reveals deeper truths about human nature
Elizabeth Day, bestselling author of Magpie
Howard is a sharp observer of human drama and psychology, and writes about pain, loss and longing superbly well
Monica Ali, bestselling author of Love Marriage
I don’t know how I’d managed to miss [The Cazalet Chronicles] until now, but they’re absolute heaven
Meg Mason, bestselling author of Sorrow and Bliss
[N]o detail is too small to be included, so charged with significance is the material envelope of that lost world
Tessa Hadley, bestselling author of After the Funeral
Charming, poignant and quite irresistible . . . to be cherished and shared
The Times
The Cazalets have earned an honoured place among the great saga families . . . rendered thrillingly three-dimensional by a master craftsman
Sunday Telegraph
Packed with psychological insights that just keep coming, and gorgeous and quirky writing
Maria Semple, bestselling author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette

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