All Change

By: Elizabeth Jane Howard

Narrated by: Penelope Wilton

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.

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.

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

©2013 Elizabeth Jane Howard (P)2013 Pan Macmillan Publishers Ltd

Critic reviews

"Elizabeth Jane Howard 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)
“Reassuring without becoming dim-witted or simplistic, largely because Howard is such an astute observer of human behaviour. She conveys volumes with tiny, brilliant touches ... I found myself at one in the morning, weeping over a death-bed scene, unable to put the book down. This is Howard’s true magic: her humanity transcends the individual. All Change really is the gold standard of comfort reads” (Lucy Atkins, Sunday Times - plus featured in their 'Must Reads' section)
“Beautifully written and utterly engrossing” (Fanny Blake, Woman & Home)
“Reading All Change is like turning the pages of a marvellous vintage photograph album ... a novel to gobble up like a soufflé and then marvel over at leisure” ( We Love This Book)
“It was almost enough of a joy to have had four volumes of Elizabeth Jane Howard’s great saga about the Cazalet family ... so to have a fifth volume is a huge treat and you do rather hope she will go on forever ... It is in fact all wonderful. Please let there be a sixth book. Verdict 5/5” (Jennifer Selway, Daily Express)

The beloved Cazalets

This is my second time listening to the series. I can’t wait for enough time to pass so I can enjoy it all over again.

This is the story of an English middle class family that covers the period from 1939 to the late 50s. The story and cast are brilliantly sustained and developed in Elizabeth Jane Howard’s telling, which is unfailingly insightful, full of pathos and humor. I live inside that world as I am reading.

One reads different books for different things, making it impossible (at least for me) to say of any book: this is my favorite of all. But for a five volume family saga depicting the era between the wars in England, the Cazalet Chronicles are just perfect.

I’ll miss the Cazalets

I loved this entire series and will miss the family, even the unlovable Edward and Diana. It was a great weed with a little bit of food for everything I love in reading - history, solid characterization, a good story arc, details about the period decor, food, and fashion, wit and intelligence, multiple perspectives. Just a really good series. I enjoyed it even more than the Forsyte saga.

Absorbing, gentle story beautifully told.

5 novels that follow the events in the lives of the large Cazelet family before, during and after World War II. An interesting, delicious novel in the best British tradition.

A wonderful wrap-up

I’ve loved the first four Cazalet novels for many years. This book, while not as well edited perhaps? - there are so many odd repetitions - does a satisfying job of filling in the later years, of who ended up doing what and how it all settled. But my strongest praise is for the narrator, Penelope Wilton, whose lovely voice is perfect for this tale. The women characters, of course, but also the men and children reveal themselves through the clarity and deep understanding of her superb reading.

My all time favorite series

Where does All Change rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

In the top 5, along with the other 4 books in this series.

Any additional comments?

Finding that Elizabeth Jane Howard wrote this one last book in the Cazalet Chronicles, available on Audible just a few weeks before she died, was like a precious gift.

not the best for last, but still good

I didn't enjoy this narrator as much as the reader of the first four in the series. There were issues with continuity with the earlier books as well, which I found distracting. However, it was lovely, if heart wrenching to spend time with the Cazelets one more time.
I'll certainly listen to the whole series again.

Howard finished strong

Although this fifth novel in The Cazalet Chronicle was written nearly 20 years after the first four and near the end of the author's life, the mastery of tale and character is still there. At the end I cried because the characters are so real - so human, painstakingly drawn and psychologically credible - I came to love them as did the author.

I will miss the Cazalets

This was a great book; however, there are too many loose ends! I love a happy ending with all the knots tied. I am going to miss this family and wish that there could be one more book that would provide answers. What happened to Edward - did he stay with Diana? What about Louise - did she find love? Did Hugh live? It will be one of those “Gone With the Wind” things - you’ll always wonder.

What a melancholy end for the family!

Despite being set so far in the future, somehow the first third of the book managed to be a rehash of things that happened in book 4. There are also enough times when the characters behaved “out of character” that it makes me wonder if this was partially if not completely written by a ghost writer? The author was quite ill in 2011/2012 and died soon after the book was published.

In some ways, I wish I’d stopped at book 4 since most of the characters had an unhappy ending.

A bit of a let down after the marvelous first ones

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Yes. The last quarter of the book is retelling all that we already know. It is too maudlin and not as interesting as the fist 2/3 of the novel. Remember, I am saying this as one who had reread all of the Cazuelet series. I am big EJH fan.

Would you recommend All Change to your friends? Why or why not?

No. It does little to add to the original series. It only makes one want MORE - at least in the beginning and we are not sated.`I can

What does Penelope Wilton bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I can only listen to books as I am visually impaired. She is a good reader. I rather missed the original reader, but this woman is more than adequate.I

Could you see All Change being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

I do not answer such questions. I read books. I have no interest in movies or TV shows.

Any additional comments?

There was far too much emphasis on Rachel. She, of all the characters, is not only boring but hard to take in. What intelligent woman would sacrifice her own life and pleasures for the likes of a family of disparate brothers? Give me a break. Rachel is most unlikeable.