Marking Time cover art

Marking Time

The landmark classic of 20th century family life
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Marking Time

By: Elizabeth Jane Howard
Narrated by: Indira Varma
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About this listen

Beautifully read by Indira Varma and poignantly told, Marking Time is the second novel in Elizabeth Jane Howard’s bestselling family saga The Cazalet Chronicles, set during the onset of World War II.

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

Home Place, Sussex, 1939. As the shadows of the Second World War roll in, banishing the sun-drenched days of childish games and trips to the coast, a new generation of Cazalets takes 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 that her beloved father, Rupert, is now missing somewhere on the shores of France. And sensitive, imaginative Polly feels stuck, haunted by her nightmares about the war.

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

Marking Time is the second volume of the extraordinary Cazalet Chronicles and a perfect addition to your collection. Marking Time is followed by Confusion, the third book in the series.

 20th Century Classics Genre Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Romance

Critic Reviews

What magic transforms a book into a compelling, moving, unputdownable read? I don’t know, but whatever it is, [The Cazalet Chronicles] have it. The 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 (Marian Keyes, bestselling author of My Favourite Mistake)
She is one of those novelists who shows, through her work, what the novel is for . . . She helps us to do the necessary thing – open our eyes and our hearts (Hilary Mantel, bestselling author of the Wolf Hall trilogy)
Like [Elena] Ferrante, Howard’s fictional sphere is domestic and yet reveals deeper truths about human nature (Elizabeth Day, bestselling author of Magpie)
Howard is a sharp observer of human drama and psychology, and writes about pain, loss and longing superbly well (Monica Ali, bestselling author of Love Marriage)
I don’t know how I’d managed to miss [The Cazalet Chronicles] until now, but they’re absolute heaven (Meg Mason, bestselling author of Sorrow and Bliss)
[N]o detail is too small to be included, so charged with significance is the material envelope of that lost world (Tessa Hadley, bestselling author of After the Funeral)
A dazzling historical reconstruction (Penelope Fitzgerald, Booker Prize-winning author of Offshore)
Charming, poignant and quite irresistible . . . to be cherished and shared
The Cazalets have earned an honoured place among the great saga families . . . rendered thrillingly three-dimensional by a master craftsman
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