What do You think about Confusion (1995)?
Another excellent read from Elizabeth Jane Howard. The Cazalet girls are growing up: Louise, now married to Michael, has had a baby and her first affair; Polly has gone with Clary to live in London, to figure out what she wants for her life while taking care of her father and two brothers after her mother's death; Clary's unshaken faith that her father will return from France has not lessened, but she & Polly have grown apart as one of them suffers from unrequited love. The adults lives have
—Suzanne Garrison
The Cazalets carry on during WWII, through the war effort, marriages, pregnancies, and affairs. Howard draws upon her own experiences in these books. Seeing the changes wrought by the war in society is fascinating. WWII seems to have marked a sexual revolution in a way.I definitely came to these books with an idealized picture of England during WWII based on books from my childhood -- precocious children sent to the countryside (discovering portals to other worlds), secret gardens with sick boys hidden away, victory gardens, etc.I had no idea that Howard had been married to Kingsley Amis (whose Lucky Jim I'm reading right now). If you like the Cazalet Chronicle (or are even interested), you'd most likely enjoy The Chamomile Lawn miniseries (initially recommended to me by Hilary).
—Jodi
Book three in the series continues the completely immersive experience. And being three books it, I am finding it a bit easier to read quickly despite reading about places and people so far from my experience because I am used to the characters and author's writing style by now. I continue to enjoy the variety of first person POVs which mean each characters' sections require flashbacks to fill in the holes.Even though the girls are no longer girls and have finally move out of Home Place, all the characters continue to mark time until the end of the war when they expect things to change or possibly go back to pre-war normal. There's only two minor negatives. This very much seems a fictionalize autobiography of Howard and her family. Multiple characters seem to include aspects of her personality and experience and that of her close family. For example all three main characters seem to have an unusually close borderline romantic/sexual relationships (in different ways) with their fathers and be drawn to older men. That seems to be a bit odd for three characters who are otherwise so different. Additionally by this novel (slight spoiler hidden)(view spoiler)[, all married characters (with the exception of the Brig and Dutchy) are cheating on their spouses to include the character who despises sex having a emotional affair and a character who doesn't like sex having an emotional affair and then a revenge sexual affair. The only adult characters not having sex are the single ones. (hide spoiler)]
—SF_Fangirl
