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Out on 03 September 2026

The Golden Hours

Synopsis

‘I'm overjoyed to have this . . . The Golden Hours is a wonderful read’ – Nina Stibbe, author of Love, Nina

Our lives have changed so much . . .

It’s December 1962, and the Cazalet family are gathering to celebrate Christmas. With the family’s beloved Home Place long sold, Polly and Gerald have offered up their rambling stately pile, Fakenham Hall in Norfolk, to parents, siblings, cousins and children.

The old guard – brothers Hugh, Edward, Rupert and their sister Rachel – look on as the England they knew and understood fades from view. Cousins Polly, Louise and Clary, all now on the brink of turning forty, are struggling to balance the demands of midlife with their personal desires – however secret. And then there are the young – a new generation growing up in a society on the cusp of real change.

In this spellbinding novel, familiar faces reappear, newcomers are introduced, and the legacy of the Cazalets carries on into the Swinging Sixties . . .

Continuing the story of one of the most beloved families in British literature, The Golden Hours is the brilliant new novel in Elizabeth Jane Howard’s iconic Cazalet Chronicles.

‘Effortlessly authentic, pitch-perfect, funny, sexy and heart-wrenching, I can't remember the last time I lost myself so deliciously in a novel!’ - Julie Myerson, author of Something Might Happen

Details

03 September 2026
464 pages
9781035068876
Imprint: Mantle

Reviews

I’m overjoyed to have this new volume in the Cazalet Chronicles. The Golden Hours is a wonderful readNina Stibbe, bestselling author of Love, Nina
Magnificent – a sweeping, arresting continuation of a dearly beloved series, and a majestic tribute to Elizabeth Jane HowardStacey Halls, bestselling author of The Familiars
A formidable task to undertake, Louisa Young has triumphed. The Golden Hours is so beautifully written and emotionally acute, it had me enraptured. The Cazalets live again, summoned into being by the surest and cleverest of authorsElizabeth Buchan, author of Bonjour, Sophie
The Golden Hours is quite simply marvellous. By some magic, Louisa Young has acquired Elizabeth Jane Howard's touch. It seemed impossible that I would love these Cazalets as much as I love the originals, but I honestly doChristobel Kent, author of The Loving Husband