Books by Elizabeth Jane Howard

The composer Arthur Somervell was also an Inspector of Schools with special responsibility for the teaching of music. His collected writings set forth his philosophy of music education and cast light on musical life between the 1890s and his death in 1937.

'Elizabeth Jane Howard 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.It is the 1950s and as the Duchy, the Cazalets' beloved matriarch, dies, she takes with her the last remnants of a disappearing world - of houses with servants, of class and tradition - in which the Cazalets have thrived. Louise, now divorced, becomes entangled in a painful affair; while Polly and Clary must balance marriage and motherhood with their own ideas and ambitions. Hugh and Edward, now in their sixties, are feeling ill-equipped for this modern world; while Villy, long abandoned by her husband, must at last learn to live independently. But it is Rachel, who has always lived for others, who will face her greatest challenges yet. Events converge at Christmas; as a new generation of Cazalets descend on Home Place. Only one thing is certain: nothing will ever be the same again.All Change is the fifth novel in Elizabeth Jane Howard's Cazalet Chronicles. Read from the beginning of the series: The Light Years, Marking Time, Casting Off and Confusion.

Confusion is the third novel in Elizabeth Jane Howard's bestselling Cazalet Chronicles.London and Sussex, 1942. The privileged English family in turmoil . . . The long, dark days of struggle provide the poignant background to the third book of the Cazalet Chronicles. As the war enters its fourth year, chaos has become a way of life. Both in the still peaceful Sussex countryside, and in air-raid-threatened London, the divided Cazalets begin to find the battle for survival echoing the confusion in their own lives.Read the next books in the series, Casting Off and All Change, or start from the beginning with The Light Years and Marking Time.

With an introduction by Joanna Lumley.Elegantly constructed and told with exceptional grace, The Light Years is a modern classic of contemporary English life and the beginning of an extraordinary family saga.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 and childish games. But despite the idyllic setting, nothing can be done to soothe the siblings' heartache: Hugh is haunted by the ravages of war, Edward by his latest infidelity and Rupert by his inability to please his demanding wife. Meanwhile, Rachel risks losing her only chance at happiness because of her unflinching loyalty to the family.

Marking Time is the second novel in Elizabeth Jane Howard's bestselling Cazalet Chronicles.Home Place, Sussex, 1939. The English family at war . . . The sunlit days of childish games and family meals are over, as the shadows of war roll in to cloud the lives of one English family. At Home Place, the windows are blacked out and food is becoming scarce as a new generation of Cazalets takes up the story. Louise dreams of being a great actress, Clary is an aspiring writer, while Polly, is burdened with knowledge and the need to share it.Read the next books in the series, Confusion, Casting Off and All Change, or start from the beginning with The Light Years.

Casting Off is the fourth novel in Elizabeth Jane Howard's bestselling Cazalet Chronicles.The aftermath of war, and the slow dawning of a new era of freedom and opportunity, shape the destinies of the Cazalets in the fourth volume of this magnificent family saga. Polly, Clary and Louise, now grown up, are ready to discover the truth about the adult world. While Rupert, Hugh and Edward must make the choices that will decide their own - and the family's - future. For the Cazalets, and all those close to them, one end is another beginning . . .Read the next book in the series, All Change, or start from the beginning with The Light Years, Marking Time and Confusion.

A delightful companion for all those with a love of gardens and of the very best garden writing.

From the much-loved author of the Cazalet Chronicles comes Elizabeth Jane Howard's first children's book, The Amazing Adventures of Freddie Whitemouse, following the magical journey of a mouse who wishes to be anything but himself.The trouble was that Freddie really did not like being a mouse. 'It's just a phase,' his mother said, but it wasn't . . .Little Freddie Whitemouse, of No.16, Skirting Board West, simply hates being a mouse. Mice are terribly small, frightened of everything, and aren't allowed to have any fun at all. Instead, he longs to be a fierce tiger, king of the jungle floor; or someone's treasured dog, able to run and play all day.So when a sorcerer toad hears Freddie's pleas and offers his assistance, there is really little else Freddie could ask for.So as not to make any rash decisions, Freddie agrees to spend a week as each animal. But what will he discover on his amazing adventure? And will he ever want to be just a plain old mouse again?

From the bestselling author of the Cazelet Chronicles comes Elizabeth Jane Howard's Mr Wrong, a collection of short stories.In this dazzling short story collection, including Mr Wrong, The Devoted and Three Miles Up, master storyteller, Elizabeth Jane Howard, illustrates her renowned style and delicious wit. From a family Christmas, to a house-party in France, and a haunting journey into the macabre, Howard explores the subtle tensions of relationships; from flat-sharing to adultery. Funny, perceptive and spine-tingling, Howard's stories are sure to delight.

Winner of the Yorkshire Post Novel of the Year Award.From the bestselling author of the Cazelet Chronicles comes Elizabeth Jane Howard's Getting It Right, a touching comedy about a young man trying desperately to get it right.Gavin - a sensitive, shy, hairdresser in the West End - is, at thirty-one, still a virgin. He's a classic late developer, and he's worried that it's getting too late to develop at all.Then one night, Gavin finds himself at a penthouse party and meets people the likes of which he's never come across before. Suddenly, everything begins to change . . . Over the next fortnight, Gavin might start, at last, to "e;get it right"e;.

From the bestselling author of The Light Years and Marking Time comes a revealing portrait of a marriage.

From the lauded, bestselling author of the Cazalet Chronicles, in Odd Girl Out, Elizabeth Jane Howard reveals with devastating accuracy a marriage put in a most destructive situation.Anna and Edmund Cornhill have a happy marriage and a lovely home. They are content, complete, absorbed in their private idyll.Arabella, who comes to stay one lazy summer, is rich, rootless and amoral - and, as they find out, beautiful and loving.With her elegant prose the author traces the web of love and desire that entangles these three; but it is Arabella who finally loses out.

From the lauded, bestselling author of the Cazalet Chronicles, Something in Disguise paints a candid picture of a family in crisis, from the ever witty Elizabeth Jane Howard.May's second marriage to Colonel Herbert Brown-Lacy is turning out to be a terrible mistake. Her son, Oliver, leaves home only to drift from one affair to another; his sister Elizabeth follows him, yearning for some kind of secure relationship. While even Alice, Herbert's meek daughter, is driven into marriage to escape her father's sinister behaviour . . . At once a candid depiction of a post-war family on the cusp of change and a touching love story, Something in Disguise embodies the startling truth, wit and daring that Elizabeth Jane Howard is renowned for.

From the lauded, bestselling author of The Cazalet Chronicles, After Julius is Elizabeth Jane Howard's funny yet touching story of a family brought together yet falling apart.It is twenty years since Julius died, but his last heroic action still affects the lives of the people he left behind.Emma, his youngest daughter, twenty-seven years old and afraid of men. Cressida, her sister, a war widow, blindly searching for love in her affairs with married men. Esme, Julius's widow, still attractive at fifty-eight, but aimlessly lost in the routine of her perfect home. Felix, Esme's old lover, who left her when Julius died and who is still plagued by guilt for his action. And Dan, an outsider.Throughout a disastrous - and revelatory - weekend in Sussex, the influence of the dead Julius slowly emerges . . .

From the bestselling author of The Cazalet Chronicles, The Sea Change is a witty yet heart-rending story of a marriage in crisis.Emmanuel is a famous playwright. Lillian is his sickly and embittered wife. They have never fully buried the memory of their dead daughter, Sarah. Rich but discontented, they flit from capital to capital in the company of their hero-worshipping young manager.Then Alberta, straight from an English vicarage and the pages of Jane Austen, is appointed as Emmanuel's secretary. This prim and utterly delightful figure helps the family in ways they didn't know they needed. One by one the leopards change their spots . . .

Life had been distinctly lacking in possibilities - until The Visit. But, ever afterwards, just remembering the smell of the Lancings' house would enrapture her, taking her back to that very first day when Lucy and Gerald had picked her up from the station . . .All the longing, excitement and poignant comedy of adolescence are captured in Elizabeth Jane Howard's first novel The Beautiful Visit, about a young girl growing up in the years around the First World War. Beginning and ending with a visit to the same family, it is a novel full of love, loss, and the ever-lasting effect of war.

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. Born in London in 1923, Elizabeth Jane Howard 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.