https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/confusion-by-elizabeth-jane-howard/

Third in Elizabeth Jane Howard’s brilliant family saga of the Cazalets, set during the Second World War, with the young and middle-aged women who are the central characters falling in love and having plenty of (off-stage) sex, not always with the right people or the same people. I almost feel that we had 900 pages of set-up in the first two volumes, which then explodes into lots and lots of plot here, which is maybe a little unfair as the first two were hardly without incident. Howard’s own gruesome first marriage (to Peter Scott) is unsparingly mined for material, with two particularly memorable passages involving very small babies.

Along with the turbulent love lives of the various viewpoint figures, there are some gems of observation about women’s roles in the society of 1940s England, and a quietly devastating subplot about the Holocaust and the uncovering of the concentration camps. Howard is tremendous at showing a society on the verge of tremendous change – mostly of course from the viewpoint of the privileged, but you write about what you know. And again there is an unlooked-for twist at the end which has my appetite whetted for the fourth volume.

This is not a fast-paced series, but I’m hugely enjoying it. ( )

This is the second time reading the Cazalet Chronicles and I love them even more. So engaging, so beautifully realized, a world to be lost in. ( )

Love this series. Wonderful characters, beautifully written. I'm going straight on to the next one. ( )

I keep trying to come up with an elevator pitch way to describe this series but I always fall short. "It's about an upper crust-ish English family before, during, and after WWII" is technically accurate but doesn't quite cover it. "Like Downton Abbey but...better?" also isn't quite right although I think technically accurate. "Coming of age series" comes closer. I finally realized that the other piece of storytelling I have felt this way about is Mad Men and for the same reason: it's mostly just a series of great characters living in a time not far from our own (but far enough to feel very different), living their lives, making their mistakes, having their heartbreaks, feeling their feelings. Nothing all that thrilling happens and yet you are so invested. It's a perfect slice of life because the emotional lives of the characters are so well realized. I truly cannot recommend this series enough, even if I still don't have a few sentences that might convince someone to read it. ( )

I love this series, the saga of an English family during the years 1939 through the war. Howard's writing is dignified but does not shy away from difficult issues. ( )