**This “dazzling” novel follows a family of English aristocrats as their country teeters on the brink of World War II (Penelope Fitzgerald).**

As war clouds gather on the distant horizon, Hugh, Edward, and Rupert Cazalet, along with their wives, children, and loyal servants, prepare to leave London for their annual pilgrimage to the family’s Sussex estate. There, they will join their parents, William and Kitty, and sister, Rachel, at Home Place, the sprawling retreat where the three brothers hope to spend an idyllic summer of years gone by. But the First World War has left indelible scars.

Hugh, the eldest of his siblings, was wounded in France and is haunted both by recurring nightmares of battle and the prospect of another war. Edward adores his wife, Villy, a former dancer searching for meaning in life, yet he’s incapable of remaining faithful to her. Rupert desires only to fulfill his potential as a painter, but finds that love and art cannot coexist. And devoted daughter Rachel discovers the joys—and limitations—of intimacy with another woman.

A candid portrait of British life in the late 1930s and a sweeping depiction of a world on the brink of war, *The Light Years *is a must-read for fans of *Downton Abbey.* Three generations of the Cazalet family come to unforgettable dramatic life in this saga about England during the last century—and the long-held values and cherished traditions that would soon disappear forever.

**

### From Publishers Weekly

Three generations of an English clan summer at their estate during 1937 and 1938, troubled by threats of war and less significant matters, including the chauffeur's sluggish driving and a treed cat. "Charming but unwieldy. . . . The fan of sagas full of slice-of-life detail may find the book too short, while the lover of catharsis will feel it stops short of its goal," said PW.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

### From Library Journal

In 1937 the three Cazelet brothers gather their respective families and head for the family manse in the heart of Sussex for their annual summer holiday. Howard is expert at creating detailed physical environments for her characters, habitats that often reveal just as much about the Cazelets as their words or actions do. The publisher compares The Light Years to Rosamund Pilcher's recent best seller The Shell Seekers (LJ 1/88), but the characters on the whole lack the passion, warmth, and depth of feeling of Pilcher's. Howard's family saga is well written, however; she has considerable literary talent. A sequel concentrating on the interesting scions of the Cazelet dynasty would be welcome. Recommended.
*- Lydia Bur ruel Johnson, Mesa P.L., Ariz.*
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.