As featured on BBC Radio 4 Open Book

A modern classic, The Light Years is a story of twentieth-century English life in the countryside and the first in Elizabeth Jane Howard's extraordinary, bestselling family saga The Cazalet Chronicles.

'She helps us to do the necessary thing - open our eyes and our hearts' - Hilary Mantel, author of Wolf Hall

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.

'Charming, poignant and quite irresistible . . . to be cherished and shared' - The Times

With cover artwork exclusively designed by artist Luke Edward Hall, this is an edition to treasure. Continue the dazzling historical series with Marking Time and Confusion.

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.

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. She had one child, Nicola, and married three times - lastly to fellow author Sir Kingsley Amis. 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.

Reviews
If I were sent to a desert island with one book this would be my choice -- Her Majesty Queen Camilla
Charming, poignant and quite irresistible . . . to be cherished and shared * The Times *
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, author of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies
The Cazalets have earned an honoured place among the great saga families . . . rendered thrillingly three-dimensional by a master craftsman * Sunday Telegraph *
Superb . . . hypnotic . . . very funny * Spectator *
Evocative and gracefully written * Cosmopolitan *
A family saga of the best kind . . . a must * Tatler *
A dazzling historical reconstruction -- Penelope Fitzgerald, Booker Prize-winning author of OffshoreThe Blue Flower
This chronicle will be read, like Trollope, as a classic about life in England in our century -- Sybille Bedford, author of A Legacy and Jigsaw
Gloriously addictive . . . Family loyalty, betrayals, triumphs, tragedy, births and deaths are all blissfully here, and you become emotionally absorbed in the fate of each character * Daily Mail *



Book Information
ISBN 9781529049442
Author Elizabeth Jane Howard
Format Paperback
Page Count 592
Imprint Pan Books
Publisher Pan Macmillan
Weight(grams) 412g
Dimensions(mm) 197mm * 130mm * 39mm