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The Light Years
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Brief Description
Elegantly constructed and told with exceptional grace, 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. Every summer, the Cazalet brothers - Hugh, Edward and Rupert - return...
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See moreThe first book in the landmark Cazalet Chronicles, beloved by generations of readers. With the onset of war, The Light Years reveals a privileged family facing uncertain times.
The first book in the landmark Cazalet Chronicles, previously a BBC radio and TV series. With the onset of war, The Light Years reveals a privileged family facing uncertain times.
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Description
Elegantly constructed and told with exceptional grace, 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.
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 parents and unmarried sister Rachel to enjoy two blissful months of picnics, games, and excursions to the coast.
But despite the idyllic setting, nothing can be done to soothe the siblings' heartache: Hugh is haunted by the ravages of the Great War, Edward is torn between his wife and his latest infidelity, and Rupert is in turmoil over his inability to please his demanding wife. Meanwhile, Rachel risks losing her only chance at happiness because of her unflinching loyalty to the family.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781037409134
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 20 August 2026
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Macmillan
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 36.0mm
Width: 131.0mm
Height: 198.0mm
Weight: 386g
Pages: 576
About the Author
Elizabeth Jane Howard was the author of fifteen highly acclaimed novels, including the five volumes of The Cazalet Chronicles, as well as After Julius, Falling, Getting It Right, Love All, and Odd Girl Out. The Cazalet Chronicles -- The Light Years, Marking Time, Confusion, Casting Off and All Change - have become established as modern classics and have been adapted for a major BBC television series and for BBC Radio 4. In 2000 she was awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List, and in 2002 Macmillan published her autobiography, Slipstream. She died, aged ninety, at home in Suffolk on 2 January 2014.
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The Light Years
Told with exceptional grace, 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...Paperback$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
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Pre-orderAll Change
All Change is the fifth and final volume in Elizabeth Jane Howard's bestselling series, The Cazalet Chronicles, where the old world begins to fade from view and a new dawn emerges. It is the 1950s, and as the Duchy, the Cazalets' beloved matriarch, dies, she takes with her the last remnants of a disappearing world—houses with servants, class, and tradition—in...Paperback$3000Unit price /UnavailableOut 1 Dec 2026Pre-order -
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The Second World War has finally ended and so begins a new era of freedom and opportunity for the Cazalet family. Elizabeth Jane Howard's magnificent Cazalet Chronicles continues with Casting Off, the fourth novel in the saga. The Cazalet cousins are now in their twenties, trying to piece together their lives in the aftermath of the war. Louise is faced...Paperback$3000Unit price /UnavailableOut 1 Dec 2026Pre-order -
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The Cazalet Chronicles continues with the third in the series, Confusion, set in the height of the Second World War where chaos has become a way of life for the Cazalet family. It's 1942 and the dark days of war seem never-ending. Scattered across the still-peaceful Sussex countryside and air-raid-threatened London, the divided Cazalets begin to find the battle for...Paperback$3000Unit price /UnavailableOut 1 Dec 2026Pre-order -
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Beautifully and poignantly told, Marking Time is the second novel in Elizabeth Jane Howard's bestselling Cazalet Chronicles. Home Place, Sussex, 1939. As the shadows of the Second World War roll in, banishing the sunlit days of childish games and trips to the coast, a new generation of Cazalets take up the family's story. Louise, who dreams of becoming a great...Paperback$3000Unit price /UnavailableOut 1 Dec 2026Pre-order
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