Confusion

By Elizabeth Jane Howard

Set in the height of the Second World War, The Cazalet Chronicles continues with the third in the series, Confusion, where chaos has become a way of life for the Cazalet family.

'Compelling, moving, unputdownable . . . Maybe my favourite books ever' - Marian Keyes, bestselling author of My Favourite Mistake

It’s 1942 and the dark days of war seem never-ending. Scattered across the still-peaceful Sussex countryside and air-raid-threatened London, the divided Cazalets begin to find the battle for survival echoing the confusion in their own lives.

Headstrong, independent Louise surprises the whole family when she abandons her dreams of being an actress and instead makes a society marriage. Polly, now living in London with Clary, is struggling to come to terms with the death of her mother and manage her grieving father. Meanwhile, Clary is painfully aware that what she lacks in beauty she makes up for in intelligence, and is the only member of the family who believes that her father might not be dead . . .

'She helps us to do the necessary thing – open our eyes and our hearts' – Hilary Mantel, bestselling author of The Mirror and the Light

Confusion is the heartbreaking and heartwarming third instalment of Elizabeth Jane Howard's bestselling series. It is followed by the fourth book in the series, Casting Off.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Release date: Dec 3, 2010
• ISBN: 9780330527231

Elizabeth Jane Howard

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 2002 Macmillan published Elizabeth Jane Howard's autobiography, Slipstream. In that same year she was awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. She died, aged 90, at home in Suffolk on 2 January 2014.

Reviews for Confusion

[wassilissa · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Der dritte Teil der Cazelet-Chroniken gefiel mir weniger als der erste Teil "Sommerjahre". Es ist der zweite Weltkrieg, Sybil stirbt und Rupert wird vermisst. So wachsen die Kinder auf, es wird geheiratet und getrauert. Der Kriegs aus der Perspektive von Frauen und Kindern war zur Erscheinungszeit des Buches sicher eine neue und faszinierende Sichtweise. Wie auch in den vorherigen Büchern gelingt es der Autorin, die Figuren sehr authentisch erstehen zu lassen.

[kaycliff · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I do find the author's way of using the third person pronoun to start each section of the narrative, giving no name, so you're some way in before you discover or work out which character is featured, most irritating.

[starbox_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful family saga set against WW2By sally tarbox on 8 March 2018Format: Audible Audio Edition Fabulous- you start reading this series and have to work through all five volumes as the characters are so vivid, their dramas so well-drawn.This, the third, takes place through the years of World War 2, ending with the celebrations for peace.With Rupert still missing in France, the family are starting to conclude he must be dead; wife Zoe starts to move on with her life, even devoted daughter Clary is starting to doubt...Louise marries; Sybil's death has left a void in her family; the youngsters are growing up... New friends, careers, all set against the fears and privations of War. Unputdownable. And on to Volume 4...

[paradiseporch · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love this series, the saga of an English family during the years 1939 through the war. Howard's writing is dignified but does not shy away from difficult issues.