Carrying On As Usual: The Light Years By Elizabeth Jane Howard

Go on then, what do you do with your books once you’ve read them? Bin? Charity shop? Book swap? Willing victim or sorry recipient? Or like me, do you find a cranny to squeeze them into, defiantly filling shelves so tightly, you’ll never manage to get one out again. There again, why would you want to? It’s very rare that I re-read a book (unless I’ve had to teach it, of course), but with creaking bookcases I have had to compromise recently. It’s not been easy, trying to clear the shelves of at least a few. I aimed for everything (well, that’s stretching it, not the perennial favourites and classics, obviously) bar sets since I still find something very satisfying in seeing a ‘collection’ of books on a shelf.

Then, as luck would have it, a friend invited me to look at her recent stockpile to see if there was anything I fancied. None of them was new (origin unknown in many cases), but a good book is a good book and lo and behold, I spotted a set – a family saga - which appealed, so without further ado, I moved them from her house to mine and soon settled down to immerse myself in the lives of the wealthy Cazalets:

“Ordinary life. Carrying on as usual.”

“Does that sound boring to you?”

“It sounds it, but when you’re in it, it isn’t.”

The Light Years is the first of five Cazalet Chronicles and I knew pretty quickly that the others will have to be read in due course. The author usefully provides a family tree and a list of the family and servants at the beginning, which helps, as the many characters are introduced and the reader tries to remember their roles and relationships. This first novel in the series opens in 1937, anticipating another war, and it ends in the late summer of 1938, when Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement appears to have succeeded.

cq[...as luck would have it, a friend invited me to look at her recent stockpile to see if there was anything I fancied.]

The opening is slow; it takes time to meet the players, but relationships and characters emerge, almost walking out of the mists to become solid. The characters are varied and convincing. Each of the main characters has a distinct personality and becomes known to the reader almost personally. Howard is also excellent at describing children's thoughts, feelings, opinions and conversations; clearly, she has not forgotten what it felt like to be a child or teenager. Each character brings a richness to the tapestry of family life.

The series was written to chronicle the changes in women's lives brought about (mainly) by the Second World War and in The Light Years, attitudes are strictly pre war: husbands can have affairs and wives do not expect to enjoy sex, except where there exists a rebellious streak. Servants - who are not ancillary to the family story but part of it - know their place, yet there is a respectful acknowledgement between the family and the people who serve them. The attitudes of servants and their place in society was a big part of the change which occurred as a result of the war and Howard addresses it by including them.

We are given a glimpse behind the scenes of how ‘the big house’ is run, from Ladyship to scullery maid, Master to the gardening lad. In reality, there is little difference between the classes since the arrogant, the thoughtful, the faithful – and not so faithful, the dreamer, the realist, the resentful dogsbody and the aspirant with a spark of get up and go, all exist, whatever the class. Each knows their place in their own hierarchy. Descriptions of everyday life at the time are authentic, even down to the details about providing food for each meal.

There are echoes of World War One: the loss and the lingering injuries, both mental and physical. The three Cazalet brothers represent the different outcomes of those who lived through the Great War. Their wives reflect the doubts which were emerging, as women started to question the long-held beliefs that a woman’s place was in the home and her role was to please her husband. Even Miss Milliment, for whom the reader has a growing sympathy, has her memories of lost love.

Part One ends with a swift, abridged summary of the events of the summer and Part Two begins a year later, focussing on the fear that another war may soon become a reality. The possibility is denied at first since ‘no-one wants a war’ but eventually the family begin to make preparations, ‘just in case’. Chamberlain’s attempts at appeasement are recorded and all the characters have their own visions of the devastation his failure may wreak on the world. Dark changes have overcome the family: moods, dissatisfaction, resentment and worse. There is even looming tension among the children, particularly between three of the boys whose brief falling out is a clear reflection of the changing allegiances on the world stage.

cq[There are secrets and lies, without which no family saga would be complete...
]
The novel is divided between two different locations: town and country living, in particular, Home Park, where the family gathers to spend the summer together and the reader simply shares their life – and their thoughts. How often these differ from the words they utter. It is a glimpse into an era of gentility, manners and self-restraint, of doing what one should rather than what one wants. There are hidden passions among the adults and real fear exists among the children, not least about going away to school – war may actually be preferable.

There is the wonder of childbirth and the grief of loss. The value of trust, even if it is not always best placed, and a comfortable understanding between people who know each other well. There are secrets and lies, without which no family saga would be complete, but Howard also confronts issues about sexuality which seem to plague English society to this day.

This novel begins a chronicle of English life and promises much, although in one respect I definitely have to disagree with Duchy, the matriarch: early morning tea is not ‘unnecessary or decadent’ but vital – the best drink of the day.