Any fellow Cazalet fans?

[MarkingTime2020]

I’m reading my way through Elizabeth Jane Howard’s Cazalet Chronicles at the moment - they’re even better than I’d expected, I’ve hardly been so absorbed in a series of books since childhood (or maybe Ferrante ).

Any other fans around? I should say I’m only half way through the second one (hence my nickname) so no spoilers please!

Can certainly recommend them as lockdown/pandemic reading - they’re mostly (so far) about being isolated in one place during a time of massive global upheaval...

I loved them but found the story of the governess character (Miss Milliment?) quite heartbreaking

I tried re-reading All Change a few years after the first go, but I couldn't go through with it. The first four I hope to read many more times, at decent intervals. I wish I'd made a note of when I last read the series, as it's perfect lockdown reading, but I prefer to ,let some lines slip from the memory before re-reading.
I haven't read Getting It Right for a good while, so that's my latest bedtime book. There was a film of that, which I only saw once, but I remember being fairly disgruntled with it. I think perhaps they altered the ending.

Penny Vincenze spoils of time series is similar follows a large fairly wealthy multi generation family from WW1 to the 60s.
I read it before the cazelet chronicles which we read the first book for Wai book clubs and then I just had to read the rest.

So glad to see this thread. I have just finished reading all 5 books and they have been a wonderful distraction in lockdown. I had The Light Years in my to read pile for ages - library closure forced me to to finally read it and I was hooked. I agree that the 5th book had a different tone and pace and some of the characters behaviour seemed incampatable with the earlier books but I still found it satisfying albeit very downbeat. Shed a few tears along the way. Now looking forward to reading more EJH's work.

love these books

I’m a big fan. I’ve reread the first four lots of times. The fifth isn’t as good, but quite fun to get a sense of what did they do next. By the way I’m currently watching a boxset of the TV series with a very young Hugh Bonneville . It’s highly recommended, doing a brilliant job in capturing all the characters, as well as the stunning (and horribly uncomfortable I imagine) family home in Sussex (www.imdb.com/title/.

The books are so good at capturing the messiness of married life, aren’t they? Three, or four if you count The Duchy and the Brig, versions of married life. Each with their own compromises. (Not that I’m saying that infidelity is acceptable, obviously.)

I really enjoyed the TV adaptation, such a shame they only did the first two (?) books. I think they were going to do all four (the fifth hadn’t been published then) but there was some sort of issue with funding or something.

I was just coming on here to write a post about The Cazalet Chronicles! I read the first three a few years ago and have just read the 4th one and I’m halfway through the 5th. Ive really enjoyed them and will be looking into the other suggestions on here.

I have just started reading The Light Years and am loving it!

It's great that there's a family tree at the beginning of the book, there are so many characters.