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.
Rating: 
Summary: very like Waugh
Review: The dust jacket of The Light Years, the first in the Cazalet series, compares the book to the "Upstairs, Downstairs" television series from the BBC. And there is a certain resemblance, of course, as there would be with any upper-class English family of the early 20th century. However, Elizabeth Jane Howard's book is more like Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited or Jane Austen's Emma -- a leisurely stroll of a novel where the character development is much more important than any plot line. You'll find you really care how each of the major characters changes and grows -- whether adults or children.The Light Years also made me realize for the first time how constrained women's lives were, even as late as 1937. This is a book that will sneak up on you. If it were a movie, it would be disparaged as a "chick flick." However, you won't realize how much you like it until you've finished the last page and feel cheated that it's ended. I immediately ordered the next book, Marking Time.
Rating:
Summary: The whole series is a must-read, from start to finish
Review: These books tell an amazing story. I was unable to put them down, and sad when they were finished. I highly recommend these books.
Rating:
Summary: Cawalet Chronicles or History 101: WWII
Review: This series of three novels is not only superb summer reading for everyone from 16 years old on, but also the most comprehensive look into family life before, during and after WWII that has been presented on the literary market in a long time. An excellent way for high-school students to learn what the european wars were all about, as the novels follow not only the parents' and grandparents' lives but also those of their children. Historically correct and emotionally gripping.... Don't wait too long to purchase all three...you'll want to know what happens!
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