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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is a little bit like Downton Abbey set in the late 30s but with less sensational events. This is probably for the best because it makes it less like a soap opera, but sometimes things got too mundane for my taste - I don't care what kind of dresses they buy or how often they take bathes. There were also too many side characters who only get a few pages of storyline. Things I did like:
- The female characters: there is a lot of focus on their struggles, for example in having little reproductive rights, but they are not complete victims.
- The war anxiety and fear of a German invasion in the UK, which is something I never really thought about before.
- The female characters: there is a lot of focus on their struggles, for example in having little reproductive rights, but they are not complete victims.
- The war anxiety and fear of a German invasion in the UK, which is something I never really thought about before.
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have fallen in love with this book and I’m so annoyed with myself for taking so long to finally take it down off my shelf. I knew I would like it as I have read so many reviews and been recommended it by so many people. However the surprising thing was that it was so much more than I expected.
The book begins in 1937 and the Cazalet brothers, Hugh, Edward and Rupert return to Home Place, their family home as they do every summer. The three families come together with their parents affectionately known as the Duchy and the Brig. The book follows them as they are still recovering from the Great War and worried about the possibility of another. We get the perspective of many individual members of the family and also the servants and staff looking after them. This makes you feel part of it very quickly. It did take me a while to get a hold on who was who but there is a family tree at the start of the book which is very helpful.
As I said this book went above my expectations, there were at least 3 incidents that made me gasp, I was not expecting them at all. At 554 pages, the book is very long but at no point was I bored and I am so excited to know that I can go back to these characters in the next book.
Elizabeth Jane Howard is so good at using the family to explore so much, class, wealth, servitude, religion, family, power, sexuality, I could go on and on. If you, like me have not read these books then I urge you, I can’t wait to read the rest.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
slow-paced
emotional
funny
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
It felt a little like reading an Enid Blyton book for adults for the first third or so which sounds like an insult but I loved Enid Blyton books as a child and it did make me feel weirdly nostalgic.
It's an interesting book, I'm not sure I will go back and finish off the rest of the series as I'm not sure it engrossed me enough to achieve that. There are a lot of characters and that was tough to keep track of and, to be honest, care about at times. Some of the characters and relationships are really well drawn and there is some frustration at not being able to delve more into their lives.
It's an interesting book, I'm not sure I will go back and finish off the rest of the series as I'm not sure it engrossed me enough to achieve that. There are a lot of characters and that was tough to keep track of and, to be honest, care about at times. Some of the characters and relationships are really well drawn and there is some frustration at not being able to delve more into their lives.
My mother recommended this series to me quite some time ago, but it has taken me a while to begin reading it. She was right that I would love it. It reminds me a bit of the Forsyte Saga, only because of the type of somewhat nostalgic historical novel it is. One thing that fascinates me about this is how there is almost no overall plot whatsoever, unless it becomes clear throughout the series. Each character has things that happen to them, but I could not really say what the plot was. This aspect of the novel reminds me of Sylvia Townsend Warner's *The Corner That Held Them* -- though they have totally different styles and topics. Howard lets us in on the intimate details of these characters -- some might say it is overloaded with detail, though I enjoyed it -- and the way she is able to continue telling the story from various characters' points of view, even when we see terrible things about certain characters, is impressive, as is the way Howard subtly lets us know when something bad is about to happen or be revealed. I'm sure I will be studying how Howard does this from a craft experience for some time.
Oh wow... new favorite series alert... this has the coziness and joy of a big overstuffed family saga, with a lot of deep emotional exploration as well. It's basically just a book about people hanging around and not doing much, but in the very best way possible. It's almost impossible to talk about what I loved here, because it's just... flitting into these people's minds, getting to know them, getting to love and to hate them. The inherent tragedy of these relationship dynamics, the way so many people are trapped by their marriages or their circumstances or whatever else. And yet nobody would think to question deeply the strictures of their system... this is the way things are, and they understand this to be inevitable.
I love the intimacy of the language, how much we learn about Louise and Clary and Polly and all the others just through the small preoccupations of their daily routines, but also the bigger thoughts about their future, their fears and hopes. I'm tenderhearted about Zoe and Rupert, I want Hugh and Sybil to work on their communication, I'm horrified by Edward's friendly affability juxtaposed to his evil behavior, and how even this is painted in that same sort of mundane inevitable light.
I am so thrilled there are four more of these books, I will be diving into them soon!
I love the intimacy of the language, how much we learn about Louise and Clary and Polly and all the others just through the small preoccupations of their daily routines, but also the bigger thoughts about their future, their fears and hopes. I'm tenderhearted about Zoe and Rupert, I want Hugh and Sybil to work on their communication, I'm horrified by Edward's friendly affability juxtaposed to his evil behavior, and how even this is painted in that same sort of mundane inevitable light.
I am so thrilled there are four more of these books, I will be diving into them soon!