Rating: 
Summary: A Good Start to a Trilogy
Review: I have just finished reading this first of three novels about the Cazalet family set on the eve of the Second World War. I am definitely looking forward to reading the next two volumes.There are lots of characters and I did have to refer many times to the family tree at the front of the novel but all of these characters help to really set the stage for understanding the life and times of upper class English families who still bore the scars of the First World War and who are now gearing up for the inevitable return to the battlefields. One facet of the book which fascinated me was how much time was devoted to the preparation of and eating of enormous quantities of food. When one looks at how many meals were eaten daily, at how rich or loaded with sugar these meals were, one is amazed that the English were not a race of totally obese, diabetic people! If you enjoy historical English family sagas, I think you will thoroughly enjoy this book. I hope the next two volumes live up to my expectations.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful Characters
Review: I have just finished reading this novel and I am already on the lookout for the other 3 volumes in this series. The character development in this book was wonderful. This book appeared to be mostly about getting to know the Cazalet family rather than trying to follow an action-packed plot. The children were especially well-drawn. After watching their development from 1937-1938, I am especially curious to see what will happen to them as they grow up. Another strong point of this book is the author's ability to teach about British society of the time without being too obvious. She shows, rather than tells, what goes in English households in order to make her points.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Characters
Review: I have just finished reading this novel and I am already on the lookout for the other 3 volumes in this series. The character development in this book was wonderful. This book appeared to be mostly about getting to know the Cazalet family rather than trying to follow an action-packed plot. The children were especially well-drawn. After watching their development from 1937-1938, I am especially curious to see what will happen to them as they grow up. Another strong point of this book is the author's ability to teach about British society of the time without being too obvious. She shows, rather than tells, what goes in English households in order to make her points.
Rating:
Summary: Nice change of pace from current fiction offerings
Review: I read this book after finishing a series of current popular fiction (Stuart Woods- The Run and the latest John Grisham) and found this book a nice escape from current fiction. I have also recently read the Mitford Series of books by Jan Karon, and if you find you like the Cazalet series of books, I highly reccomend the Mitford Years books. If you plan on checking these books out, watch out for the Amazon reviews of the Vol 2,3 and 4 as they give away much of the plot.
Rating:
Summary: different perspectives
Review: I really enjoyed the Cazalet Chronicles, for many reasons. Much of it came from a child's/young person's perspective which was unusual.
Rating:
Summary: Settle in for a while--you won't put this one down!
Review: I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the rest of the series. The characters are well done and true-to-life--there aren't really villains and heroes--each person has his ups and downs. There were times when I felt the pace of the book was a little slow, but I bought the other three anyway just to see what was happening with the family. The book reminded me of Jan Karon's Mitford series, and I hope the rest of the series is as good!
Rating:
Summary: Heir to the great Victorians and E.M. Forster
Review: If you enjoy Victorian/Edwardian writers like the Brontes, George Eliot and Forster, Elizabeth Jane Howard will be right up your alley. She takes you back to another age (WWII era) and recreates that world so realistically that it's easy to become completely immersed. Putting one of her books down is like emerging from underwater -- it takes me a few minutes to adjust to the light and air of the "real world"!
I love the fact that Howard pulls no punches. Characters and situations are portrayed so honestly and empathetically that it's hard to believe they aren't real.
I am partway through the 4th book in the Cazalet Chronicles and dreading the end -- but I feel confident that unlike most contemporary fiction, I'll be re-reading these books over and over again. (And for me, only Jane Austen and a few of the Victorians usually merit re-reading!)
Rating:
Summary: Great stories, but there is more in Howard
Review: If you like stories with full-rounded, real characters, the Cazalet Chronicles will not deceive you. But I personally think Elizabeth Jane Howard has written even more remarkable things: "Odd girl out" and "Getting it right" are my personal best choices. These are anyway wonderful books, guaranteed to carry you away in another time another place; and the quality of the writing is, as usual with EJH, astounding. I'm hoping soon for another novel (but not for more Cazalets, four books are enough).
Rating:
Summary: A book to get lost in
Review: Ms Howard has a wonderful knack of giving life and breath to a character. In this, her first of the Cazalet Chronicles, she intoduces the members of the family, and others to whom the family is tied. As the tale is told and the lives are woven together, you will be more than happy to launch yourself into the complete series.
Rating:
Summary: A beautifully told story of the Cazalet family.
Review: The book The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard, is a well written classic that documents family life and relationships before, during and after World War II in England. It is a story that draws you into the lives of each of the characters and alternates giving first person accounts of what they are experiencing. The book centers on the three generations of the Cazalet family spending their summers under one roof in their summer home in Sussex. You watch all of the charactors grow up, change as people, and go through all the things in life that we all experience at some point. The Light Years is only part one of the Cazalet chronicle so don't miss out on the sequel Marking Time.
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