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Title: Confusion
Author: Elizabeth Jane Howard
Narrator: Jill Balcon
Format: Unabridged
Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
Language: English
Release date: 06-13-05
Publisher: Audible Studios
Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 93 votes
Genres: Fiction, Historical
Publisher's Summary:
This, the third volume of the best-selling The Cazalet Chronicles, takes up the story of the Cazalet family in the spring of 1942 and follows them through the war to VE Day. Polly and Clary have left Home Place for London where Archie Lestrange keeps a close eye on them; Louise, surprisingly, has married; Polly makes a painful discovery; Zoe, despairing of Rupert's return, stumbles on solace; and Edward's duplicity demands a reckoning.
©1993 Elizabeth Jane Howard; (P)2014 Audible, Inc.
Critic Reviews:
"Lush, sprawling escapist fiction of the first order....Howard creates a nearly palpable world, peopled with the sort of well-conceived characters that linger long in the reader's mind." (Publishers Weekly)
Members Reviews:
Just so very good
The stunning 3rd volume of the series by this much under-appreciated writer packs a massive emotional punch. The understated artistry of the writing is the driving force here, and is marvellously served by a very fine narrator.
Wonderful
This is one of those books it is far better to listen to than to read. The narrator adds so much. Ms. Howard writes about children with so much understanding and yet also gets into the minds of the cook and the wonderful elderly governess and the stately yet broadminded matriarch. Fans of Downton Abbey will heartily enjoy this series.
Takes Me Home
Would you listen to Confusion again? Why?
The reading is extraordinary. Jill Balcom is a fine actress; I watched her on the BBC when I was growing up in London. She manages to differentiate between characters with just slight inflections and changes to her voice. She gets the accents and intonations SO well.
Who was your favorite character and why?
I don't have a favorite character. They are all so finely drawn and developed from the first of the chronicles and grow up or age wonderfully.
What does Jill Balcon bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you just read the book?
I mentioned this attribute in the first section: her ability to give each character a personality. One gets to know the people by their voices.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
So much of the series reminds me of my growing up in London during the 50s, and from what my mother told me, of life during the war in England. So many of the things in the book, from food to specifically British things like Harrington squares (terry cloth outer diapers) bring back my childhood. Even the streets where they lived are in my neighborhood! And musicians are mentioned that I knew. Extraordinary.
Addictive, Easy, Indulgent
I had never heard of this series until Audible, cleverly, kept suggesting it to me. I am now on this, the third book of the series and hopelessly addicted.
The characters are (almost) all frightfully posh, very privileged and insulated from 'real life' in so many ways. The war comes as a terrible shock, and yet, with their huge country house to escape to, plus many grand London homes and mansion flats, they cope.
The things I like are the rattling plot lines - though in this volume, I am getting very tired of the children so often leading the narration. It's OK to see life through the eyes of 10 year old Neville now and then, but not as much as this. Otherwise, the plot lines, of which there are dozens, really get along at a good pace.
I also like the way the characters are presented.
