Journeying backward in time—from 1950 to 1926—this masterpiece of women’s literary fiction presents an indelible portrait of a marriage Forty-three-year-old Antonia Fleming is preparing a dinner party for eight at the house in Campden Hill Square she shares with her husband, Conrad. The occasion is the engagement of their son, Julian. Their other child, Deirdre, hates her father and resents her mother—a reality Conrad ponders, along with the disastrous state of Deirdre’s single life, as he leaves the bed of his current mistress. In illuminating the quotidian details of domestic life, The Long View perfectly captures a long relationship, with its moments of joy and intimacy, loneliness and regret, and of the roads not taken. As the story moves backward in time, we learn about the events that led up to Conrad and Antonia’s fateful first meeting—including a startling secret in Antonia’s past. With brilliant use of reverse chronology, the bestselling author of the Cazalet Chronicles paints a realistic and revealing portrait of a marriage and the decisions, good and bad, right and wrong, that shape lives.

Written twenty years after the publication of Casting Off, the final volume of the Cazalet Chronicles begins in 1956 when the death of the family matriarch brings the scattered members of the extended clan back together The death of eighty-nine-year-old matriarch Kitty “the Duchy” Cazalet marks the end of an era—and the commencement of great change for the family. The long, difficult marriage of second son Edward to Villy has ended in divorce and Edward is contemplating wedlock with his longtime mistress, Diana. Hugh, the eldest son, wounded in the Great War and haunted by the death of his wife, Sybil, has finally found happiness with Jemima Leaf. Rupert, the youngest, who was missing-in-action during World War II, is now committed to rebuilding his relationship with his wife, Zoe. Rachel, who has spent a lifetime looking after others, has the chance to finally live for herself—even as she’s faced with the loss of all she cherishes most. And Home Place, the beloved Sussex estate where the Cazalets have gathered for years, is now a beloved relic that, with its faded wallpaper and leaky roof, has aged along with its occupants, including faithful servants like Mrs. Cripps, Mr. Tonbridge, and former governess Miss Milliment, now steadfast companion to Villy. Elizabeth Jane Howard’s critically acclaimed family saga comes to its conclusion as the Cazalets reflect on their past and begin the inexorable move forward.

The award-winning author of the Cazalet Chronicles “brilliantly” examines a marriage disrupted by a beautiful interloper (The New York Times). Anne and Edmund Cornhill are the perfect couple. From their steadfast marriage to their beautiful home in the suburbs of London to their imperious yet charming cat, they paint a picture of stability to be emulated and admired—until Arabella Dawick appears in their lives. Beautiful, wealthy, and shiftless, twenty-two-year-old Arabella has spent her short years lavishing in luxury and loneliness, craving the kind of connection the Cornhills share. She comes to them wanting nothing more than their affection. But as the emotional and sexual ties between each of them grow and change, the once-idyllic home becomes a domestic minefield of desires and secrets, forever changing the dynamic between man and wife. With brutal honesty and stunning prose, the highly acclaimed author of The Sea Change and Getting It Right delves into the meaning of love, sex, and satisfaction, in a story that is at once startlingly unique and unsettlingly familiar.

The women of the Cazalet family carry on while WWII casts its shadow over England as the saga by the award-winning author of The Light Years continues. In the spring of 1942, after the attacks on Pearl Harbor have pulled America into the war, the world reels from the ever-increasing atrocities of the conflict. And in Sussex, at the Cazalet family estate known as Home Place, personal tragedies begin to take their toll. Polly, reacting to the untimely death of her mother, flees her comfortable surroundings accompanied her cousin Clary. But the bustling life of London proves a test not only for their ability to live on their own but also for their once-close relationship. Nineteen-year-old Louise believes she has found the man of her dreams in dashing naval officer Michael Hadleigh. After a whirlwind marriage and honeymoon, though, she begins to realize that being a young wartime bride is not the fairy tale she once presumed it would be. With Rupert still missing in action, his second wife, Zoë, struggles to maintain hope that her husband will one day return. But when a handsome stranger offers her solace, she finds herself drawn into an inadvisable but sorely needed affair. Confusion beautifully continues the sweeping family epic started in The Light Years and Marking Time, examining the struggles, passions, heartbreaks, and joys of three generations. Filled with profound reflections on a country torn apart by war and intimate glances into the lives of those left behind, this is a must-read novel for fans of Downton Abbey and lovers of wartime historical fiction.

For fans of Downton Abbey, the second volume of the critically acclaimed Cazalet saga takes readers into the lives of an extended British family and their devoted retinue It is 1939, and Hitler has just invaded Poland. The exigencies of wartime will force the Cazalets to make difficult choices as the older children are evacuated from London and settled in Home Place, their longtime Sussex summer estate. Narrated primarily through the voices of three Cazalet cousins—sixteen-year-old Louise and fourteen-year-old Polly and Clary—Marking Time details the continuing saga of their fathers. With the outbreak of war, Edward is determined to do his part for England. Hugh, crippled in World War I, must sit back and watch other men fight for their country, including his brother Rupert, who enlists and goes missing in action. The Cazalets’ story plays out against the greater drama unfolding on the world stage. Three young girls yearn for the freedom they believe adulthood will confer upon them in this tale of struggle and sacrifice, love and loss, as a new generation of Cazalets makes itself heard. With strong female characters such as the stoic Kitty; her daughter, Rachel, who’s in a relationship with another woman; and the loyal governess Miss Milliment, Marking Time explores the role of women during the war amid early stirrings of feminism.

Slipstream brilliantly illuminates the literary world of the latter half of the 20th century, as well as giving a highly personal insight into the life of Elizabeth Jane Howard, one of our most beloved British writers. 'This is a brave, absorbing and vulnerable book' – Guardian Elizabeth looks back over the course of her eventful life, providing a story of as full of love, passion and betrayal as her novels. Born in London in 1923, she was privately educated at home, moving on to short-lived careers as an actress and model, before writing her first acclaimed novel, The Beautiful Visit, in 1950. She has written many highly regarded novels, including Falling and After Julius. Her Cazalet Chronicles have become established as modern classics and were adapted for a major BBC television series and for BBC Radio 4. She has been married three times – firstly to Peter Scott, the naturalist and son of Captain Scott, and most famously and tempestuously to Kingsley Amis. It was Amis' son by another marriage, Martin, to whom she introduced the works of Jane Austen and ensured that he received the education that would be the grounding of his own literary career. Her closest friends have included some of the greatest writers and thinkers of the day: Laurie Lee, Arthur Koestler and Cecil Day-Lewis, among others. In this memoir, Elizabeth Jane Howard lays bare the slipstream of experience that has comprised her life – in the process, revealing her incredible adventures, wisdom and resilience. 'Her talent seemed so effervescent, so unstoppable, that there was no predicting where it might take her' – Hilary Mantel, author of Wolf Hall

From the bestselling author of the Cazalet Chronicles, Elizabeth Jane Howard, Love All is a heartfelt story of love and adulthood in the 1960s. 'Graceful, moving' – Daily Express The late 1960s. For Persephone Plover, the daughter of distant and neglectful parents, the innocent, isolated days of childhood are long past. Now she must deal with the emotions of an adult world. Meanwhile in Melton, in the West Country, Jack Curtis – a self-made millionaire – has employed Persephone's aunt. A garden designer in her sixties, she is to deal with the terraces and glasshouses of the once beautiful local manor house – one that he has acquired at vast expense. He also has plans to start an arts festival, as a means to avoid the loneliness of divorce. Also in Melton are the Musgrove siblings, Thomas and Mary, whose parents originally owned and lived in Melton House. They are still trying to cope with emotional consequences of the tragic death of Thomas's wife, Celia. As is Francis, Celia's brother, who has come to live with them and thereby, perhaps, to find his way through life. As Jack's festival comes together, so shall these disparate souls – their relationships intertwining, and their loves transformed. 'Her talent seemed so effervescent, so unstoppable, that there was no predicting where it might take her' – Hilary Mantel, author of Wolf Hall