All Change

As featured on BBC Radio 4 Open Book

As the old world begins to fade from view and a new dawn emerges, All Change marks the fifth and final volume in Elizabeth Jane Howard's bestselling The Cazalet Chronicles.

'She helps us to do the necessary thing – open our eyes and our hearts' – Hilary Mantel, author of Wolf Hall

It is the 1950s and as the Duchy, the Cazalets’ beloved matriarch, dies, she takes with her the last remnants of a disappearing world – houses with servants, class, and tradition – in which the Cazalets have thrived.

Louise, now divorced, becomes entangled in a painful affair, while Polly and Clary must balance marriage and motherhood with their own ideas and ambitions. Hugh and Edward, now in their sixties, are feeling ill-equipped for this modern world, while Villy, long abandoned by her husband, must at last learn to live independently. But it is Rachel, who has always lived for others, who will face her greatest challenges yet.

As the Cazalets descend on Home Place for Christmas, only one thing is certain: nothing will ever be the same again.

'Charming, poignant and quite irresistible . . . to be cherished and shared' – The Times

'No detail is too small to be included, so charged with significance is the material envelope of that lost world' – Tessa Hadley, author of Free Love

This is the heartbreaking and heartwarming final instalment of Elizabeth Jane Howard's bestselling series.