Marking Time by Elizabeth Jane Howard

Marking Time by Elizabeth Jane Howard

As the shadows of the Second World War roll in, Marking Time is the second beautifully and poignantly told novel in Elizabeth Jane Howard's bestselling family saga, The Cazalet Chronicles.

‘It seemed to her as though for the rest of her life she was going to have to endure undeserved attentions, to attempt insincere responses, to be seen continuously in the wrong light . . .’

1939. Home Place, Sussex. The onset of war banishes the sunlit days of childish games and trips to the coast, as a new generation of Cazalets take up the family's story.

Louise, who dreams of becoming a great actress, finds herself facing the harsh reality that her parents have their own lives with secrets, passions and yearnings. Clary, an aspiring writer, learns the devastating news of her beloved father’s whereabouts while away at war. Zoë, Clary’s stepmother, reacts to the news in a different yet equally heartbreaking way. And sensitive, imaginative Polly feels stuck – stuck without a vocation, stuck with the terrifying reality of the fragility of life, stuck without anything except her nightmares of the war.

Continue the dazzling historical series with Confusion.

‘Howard is a sharp observer of human drama and psychology, and writes about pain, loss and longing superbly well’ – Meg Mason, bestselling author of Sorrow and Bliss

What magic transforms a book into a compelling, moving, unputdownable read? I don’t know, but whatever it is, [The Cazalet Chronicles] have itThe characters! I cared about them so much. They behave in interesting, venal, believable ways. They’re recognisably human: frustrating, flawed, lovable. Maybe my favourite books ever

Elizabeth Jane Howard was the author of fifteen highly acclaimed novels. The Cazalet Chronicles – The Light Years, Marking Time, Confusion, Casting Off and All Change – have become established as modern classics and have been adapted for a major BBC television series and for BBC Radio 4. In 2000 she was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, and in 2002 Macmillan published her autobiography, Slipstream. She died, aged ninety, at home in Suffolk on 2 January 2014.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781037409141
ISBN 10	1037409140
Title	Marking Time
Author	Elizabeth Jane Howard
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Pan Macmillan
Year published	2026-08-20
Number of pages	624
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.