The Sea Change

Elizabeth Jane Howard

02 July 2015
9781447272250
432 pages

Synopsis

From the bestselling author of The Cazalet Chronicles, The Sea Change is a witty yet heart-rending story of a marriage in crisis.

Emmanuel is a famous playwright. Lillian is his sickly and embittered wife. They have never fully buried the memory of their dead daughter, Sarah. Rich but discontented, they flit from capital to capital in the company of their hero-worshipping young manager.

Then Alberta, straight from an English vicarage and the pages of Jane Austen, is appointed as Emmanuel's secretary. This prim and utterly delightful figure helps the family in ways they didn't know they needed. One by one the leopards change their spots . . .

The characterization is the triumph of this book. Miss Howard has a exquisite sense of place.