The Light Years
Will be published approx. on 20. August 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
576 pages
978-1-0374-0913-4 (ISBN)
Description
'Maybe my favourite books ever' - Marian Keyes
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.
'They drove past fields of wheat with poppies . . . through woods of oak and Spanish chestnut . . . and hedges decorated by the last of the dog-roses bleached nearly white by the sun . . . 'Oh, this country!' he said . . . 'To me, it is the best in England.'
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 join their parents and unmarried sister Rachel to enjoy two blissful months at Home Place. 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 familial duties and his relationships that lie outside of the home. Rupert is in turmoil over his inability to please his new wife. Meanwhile, Rachel risks losing her only chance at happiness because of her unflinching loyalty to the family.
As the world they had known begins to slip away, this is the story of one family facing up to immense change - in themselves, and in the world.
'Elizabeth Jane Howard's The Cazalet Chronicles is a series of five novels, but it's so compulsive a saga that surely it counts as one work . . . vast in its scope, minute in its detail and utterly charming, it bears reading again and again' - Gill Hornby, bestselling author of Miss Austen
'She helps us to do the necessary thing - open our eyes and our hearts' - Hilary Mantel, bestselling author of Wolf Hall
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.
'They drove past fields of wheat with poppies . . . through woods of oak and Spanish chestnut . . . and hedges decorated by the last of the dog-roses bleached nearly white by the sun . . . 'Oh, this country!' he said . . . 'To me, it is the best in England.'
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 join their parents and unmarried sister Rachel to enjoy two blissful months at Home Place. 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 familial duties and his relationships that lie outside of the home. Rupert is in turmoil over his inability to please his new wife. Meanwhile, Rachel risks losing her only chance at happiness because of her unflinching loyalty to the family.
As the world they had known begins to slip away, this is the story of one family facing up to immense change - in themselves, and in the world.
'Elizabeth Jane Howard's The Cazalet Chronicles is a series of five novels, but it's so compulsive a saga that surely it counts as one work . . . vast in its scope, minute in its detail and utterly charming, it bears reading again and again' - Gill Hornby, bestselling author of Miss Austen
'She helps us to do the necessary thing - open our eyes and our hearts' - Hilary Mantel, bestselling author of Wolf Hall
Reviews / Votes
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 <i>My Favourite Mistake</i> 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 <i>How to Kill Your Family</i> Like [Elena] Ferrante, Howard's fictional sphere is domestic and yet reveals deeper truths about human nature -- Elizabeth Day, bestselling author of <i>Magpie</i> Howard is a sharp observer of human drama and psychology, and writes about pain, loss and longing superbly well -- Monica Ali, bestselling author of <i>Love Marriage</i> 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 <i>Sorrow and Bliss</i> No detail is too small to be included, so charged with significance is the material envelope of that lost world -- Tessa Hadley, bestselling author of <i>After the Funeral</i> 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 <i>Where'd You Go, Bernadette</i> Vast in its scope, minute in its detail and utterly charming, it bears reading again and again -- Gill Hornby, bestselling author of <i>Miss Austen</i>More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Pan Macmillan
Target group
Interest Age: From 18 years
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 197 mm
Width: 130 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-0374-0913-4 (9781037409134)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Elizabeth Jane Howard was the author of fifteen highly acclaimed novels. 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.