Elizabeth Jane Howard

It is twenty years since Julius died, but his last heroic action still affects the lives of his widow Esme, and his two daughters, Emma and Cressida.

It is the 1950s and as the Duchy, the Cazalets’ beloved matriarch, dies, she takes with her the last remnants of a disappearing world – of houses with servants, of class and tradition – in which the Cazalets have thrived. Only one thing is certain: nothing will ever be the same again.  Book 5 of series.

On the eve of an unusual voyage, a young woman reviews her life. Her story begins with a 'beautiful visit' to friends in the country which serves as an awakening experience. What follows is an account of her struggle to retain the mood of her visit.

Will Rupert Cazalet's marriage survive the long parting and the secrets he and his wife hide from each other?  Book 4 of series.

Polly and Clary have left Home Place for London, where Archie Lestrange keeps a close eye on them; Louise, surprisingly, has married; Polly makes a painful discovery; Zoe, despairing of Rupert's return, stumbles upon solace, while Edward's duplicity demands a reckoning.  Book 3 of series.

Henry Kent is almost without means. When Daisy buys a cottage near his dank houseboat he decides to use his charm on her, but he arouses the suspicions of Daisy's daughter.

Chronicles of the Cazalet family from 1937 to 1938 as the storm clouds of war gather over Europe.  Book 1 of series.

The story of Antonia and Conrad Fleming's marriage offers a view of a shifting relationship, and the way in which social obligations and sophistication replace youthful vulnerability. Antonia's life is traced from youth to middle age, as daughter, wife, lover and mother.

Set in the late 1960s in Melton, a small town in the West Country, the story revolves around a disparate group of people who come together there to establish an arts festival.

Amusing and poignant story of adolescence and the experiences of war-time 1939-41.  Book 2 of series.

Marriage - lots of us have tried it, longed for it or carefully avoided it. Elizabeth Jane Howard has chosen extracts from novels, short stories, letters and poems to illustrate marriage's many temperatures and moods.

The memoirs of Elizabeth Jane Howard. Born in 1923 into a large family and educated at home, as were many women of her class. The War set her on a career path and gave her confidence and independence, bringing her into contact with the artistic community where she made many friends. She published her first novel in 1950 and her latest in 1999.

Emmanuel, a famous playwright and his sickly and embittered wife, Lillian, have never fully buried the memory of their dead daughter, Sarah. But when Alberta, straight from the pages of Jane Austen, is appointed as Emmanuel's secretary, the prim and utterly delightful figure helps the family in ways they didn't know they needed.