Marking Time

Volume two of the Cazalet Chronicles begins with the formal outbreak of World War 2 and follows the family's fortunes through to the winter of 1941. Focusing for the most part on the three elder Cazalet daughters, Louise, Polly and Clary, Howard again pulls off an astonishingly good book, every bit as good as the first.

Howard's ability to let her characters evolve and change as they age, as well as with each new experience, is masterly. In a lesser writer's hands this could all descend into soap opera, but here you end up caring deeply what happens to these people, in all their flawed, human glory. For these are not paragons of virtue. There is infidelity, jealousy, illness and grief to deal with. Plans are thwarted, the war brings new hardships as the eldest brother Hugh struggles to keep the family business afloat, while the youngest, Rupert, goes missing in France.

The three teenage girls are growing up fast, Louise trying to pursue a career as an actress in the face of her mother's cold indifference, while finding herself courted by an older naval officer; Clary clings to the hope that her father is still alive in France; Polly finds all her certainties eroding as the war grinds on with no end in sight.

But this is no anodyne “family at war” saga. There is real heart here, with each character brought to life with superb prose. You feel as though you are inside their heads listening to their innermost thoughts.

Two books in and no drop in quality. An amazing achievement.