The Cazalet Chronicles: Five Novels in One Collection

A delicious British family saga, of the stuff Masterpiece Theater is made of. I was mesmerized through 4 of the 5 volumes. The 5th volume, written several years later, was not up to the quality of the first four, as if Elizabeth Jane had gotten out of the groove with the wonderful characters she had created. I had no idea the Brits were so hungry during the second world war--talking about food and clothing and coupons was a major preoccupation of the characters in the years 1941-1946. And that they still were hungry after the war ended, as the empire unraveled. The upper middle class dissolved during those years, and we did not know it. It is a true binge read. Give yourselve plenty of space and time to enjoy it.

This is a collection of five novels by Elizabeth Jane Howard, written between 1990 - 2013. The author was born in 1923 and died in 2014, so she lived during the period of her fictional Cazalet family that is covered in the novels - 1936 through 1959, a time of vast change in England and in the way of life in its people and culture. The original Cazalets, Brig and the Duchy, are of the gilded age. They established the business at which the men worked, and the large family house in Sussex, Home Place. Their two oldest sons, Hugh and Edward, served in the First World War, and went to work in the family's fine wood business. Their daughter Rachel had not married and lived at home. The youngest son Rupert, was too young to fight in WWI. As the first novel, "Marking Time," begins, the Cazalets are living comfortable lives with London homes, nannies for the children, and holidays at Home Place, along with various friends. It's heaven for the children, and a busy, happy break for the adults, who have developed their own routines and traditions. The three subsequent novels run through the war and post-war years, the hardships, and the changes. The final book skips some 9 or 10 years, and wraps things up. I've reviewed each of the novels separately, but this is an overview of the series, and the whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts. I don't want to spoil the story or its elements, but it's a beautiful, well-written story, quintessentially British, and with very human characters, wisdom, and warmth. While nostalgic, it doesn't glamorize the pre-war years, or the heroism of the war. It's called a modern classic for a reason.

…but not a great period saga! The videos don't cover the entire period of the novels (pre-WWII and following). So I purchased the novels to find out more about this British family's history. Lots of familiar faces for those who follow British TV. Good pandemic quarantine TV. Not intellectually challenging, but soap-opera entertaining.

Exactly right for those who enjoy the story of families spread over a few generations, as well as the WWII period British era. Characters you will love (or not) but almost certainly relate to. I read a couple of decades ago and was just as drawn in this time.

This book had fabulous dialogue- really fun how the chapters mostly opened with a conversation. Some of the opening dialogue very clearly a certain character and some of it required thought, which was fun. Definitely great characters, whom I feel I know. This because though some had characteristics I found to be caricature-istic, they were still three dimensional, not stand ins for the real ones. Haven’t read anything so long in ages, and found that, though sometimes the cast of characters got a bit muddled in this reader’s head, I was able to keep the thread. I would recommend it to a old aunt or a precocious tween. Quite a masterful summing up too, I enjoyed it.

I cannot believe that you can buy the entire series on Kindle for only $2.99! I've been collecting each individual book on special for that amount. Their regular price, per book is $7.99. Their lives are so entertaining and relatable. One can fully fall in love with the Cazalet family and feel like you want to know their every move from WWI experiences through the 1950s. I even own all the books in hardcover, but wanted the Kindle version so I always have them with me to read when I need a Cazalet fix. Now owning each book for a sum total of $2.99, I feel like waking someone up to tell them to buy the set! It's a great series and you'll never find it cheaper than this deal! Merry Christmas to me!

The five books should be read in sequence. The first book begins as the First World War has ended, the last book ends just after Christmas of 1958. It is a wonderful story of five adult children, their elderly parents, and lots of young children who are cousins. It is a great story but complicated by the large number of characters. The Cazalet family tree that is in the beginning of each book helps but it is hard to keep track of them as the story unfolds over a period of about forty years. The story starts with three brothers who are married and one unmarried daughter. The brothers have several children and eventually those children have children. The early books I the series have long chapters. I did not like the way the dialog of characters was not clear as to who was talking. Paragraphs of two people's dialog is separated by a one line break and then another two characters start a dialog without identification as to who they are. In some cases I was reading well into a next paragraph only to find that it was two different charters talking and then had to go back to reread parts.