CULTURE EDITION
August Book Club Save space in your suitcase for these holiday essentials, selected by Charlotte Griffiths
ELIZABETH JANE HOWARD The Cazalet Chronicles You might have first read this when you were younger or (like me) you could have somehow slipped past this magnificent series and only encountered it as an adult – but either way, this five-strong set of books should absolutely be on your reading list for the warmer months. Having grown up in almost exactly the same area the Cazalets call home, Elizabeth Jane Howard’s series had a grip on me from its first mention of visiting East Sussex’s pebbled beaches or popping into Hastings for supplies, but I’m confident that no matter where you’re from, you’ll fall headfirst for this sweeping, intoxicating family saga. The first book is set just after World War I, when four adult siblings and their young children all make the traditional summer return to their family home in Sussex for a two-month-long stay. With them come their struggles, affairs, heartbreaks, business ventures, hopes and dreams – and that’s an awful lot for a single house to contain, even one as beautiful and sprawling as Home Place. It’s the descriptions of the domestic details that are so enchanting: the bedrooms’ fading floral wallpapers, the garden’s rose bushes visible through shimmering heat, the ad-hoc lunches swiftly expanded to accommodate unexpected visitors. With new books in the series scheduled to arrive next year, written by Howard’s niece, this is exactly the right time to fall in love with their summery stories.
Sweet Sorrow DAVID NICHOLLS
aimlessly scouting around his area on a bike, he collides with Fran, a girl from the local independent school, and finds himself totally smitten in that gorgeously teenage way. In fact, he becomes so enamoured that he’s convinced to sign up for a summer-long am-dram production of Romeo and Juliet set to take place in a local house’s gardens. If you love heart-wrenching coming-of-age novels or feel like you’re on the cusp of finding your true self – at whatever age you might be – this could be the perfect summer read.
I’ll hazard a guess that, for most readers of Cambridge Edition , some time will have passed since the days of full-time education; but this beautiful novel from the absolute master of literary romcom will transport you straight back to that heady summer – post-exams, pre-further education – when your whole life was sprawling before you, sparkling with possibilities, and single balmy days of nothingness lasted entire weeks. Charlie Lewis is the quiet one in his gang of lads: he and his mates have just finished their GCSEs. Between shifts at his local garage,
28 AUGUST 2025 CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK
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