Superb!

I’ve read all the Cazalet novels at least twice plus one or two others by EJ Howard and have always been fascinated by a writer who could bring childhood and the pains of growing up in a distant, almost foreign era so brilliantly alive. Since the main and most vivid Cazalet protagonists are girls and then young women, one couldn’t help but imagine there was a great chunk of the author in each of them and I longed to find out more about this woman who bestrode most of the twentieth century, so my first port of call was her own memoir, Slipstream - long before Artemis Cooper’s biography was even thought of, probably. Thus I came to her book with some trepidation, fearing the cool gaze of another pair of eyes might shatter some cherished illusions! I needn’t have worried: Ms Cooper’s objectivity and research (including plenty of interviews with EJH’s friends and family) reveal facets of her personality EJH might not have wished to show or perhaps been able to perceive, but she is never cruel or unfairly critical. Warts and all, the character that emerges in this biography is much more well-rounded, real and psychologically coherent than EJH’s own rather wraith-like self portrait!

It seems almost inevitable that a ‘well born’, beautiful, talented woman whose life spans some very interesting decades will have an interesting, full life, and so it was with Elizabeth Jane Howard who from late teens onwards was rubbing shoulders with the great and the good. Virtually every cultural icon of the twentieth century you can think of wafts through her drawing-room, or she through theirs. Never a dull conversation, no inarticulate acquaintances. There’s always someone prepared to lend a cottage in the country or a villa in Europe; the often broke Jane always manages to magic up the perfect frock for every occasion; restaurant meals, theatre, holidays always materialise just so conveniently!

This rarefied existence isn’t as offputting as it might seem - chiefly because of the sheer charm of most of the characters one encounters throughout this life, especially EJH herself, who is also (mostly) generous, thoughtful and a real grafter. Characters who lack charm are made to sound interesting just by dint of their awfulness! Nobody is ... ‘ordinary’.

Beyond the books Elizabeth Jane Howard is perhaps best known for her string of husbands and lovers, many of them famous. Here we stumble on the conundrum which Artemis Cooper tries to probe: why was this intelligent and fascinating woman who loved to love and be loved so hopeless at sustaining a relationship or emerging from one unhurt? Ms Cooper points to childhood neglect and abuse which, together with a lack of much formal education, generated insecurity and lack of confidence. The gawky teenager whose homesickness was so crippling she couldn’t spend a single night away from home becomes the clingy beauty who puts up with no end of awfulness on the part of some of her men, rather than walk away. At least half of her marriage to Kingsley Amis (her longest relationship) was marred by almost unbelievable cruelty and selfishness on his part, combined with drudgery and, Ms Cooper hints, self-righteousness on hers. This is no dizzy blonde popping pills, but a resourceful, gifted woman who can sew, cook, create gardens and beautiful interiors and, oh, write a dozen novels as well as scores of reviews and articles, alongside voracious reading. A sort of hollowness is suggested - a passivity beyond even the conventional image of the 1950s or 1960s wife. The ease and rapidity with which Jane Howard would embark on her affairs seems quite startling even by today’s standards; it’s not clear if she was ever gossiped or bitched about, which would have been quite predictable in that day and age. There’s never any suggestion, either in this book or in her own memoir, of EJH building up a longing for someone over time from afar; she finds herself in a situation where someone makes it clear he fancies her and it’s as if she thinks, “Oh, I’d better fancy you back, then,” (whether he’s married to her best friend or not) and next thing you know, she’s passionately in love!

Artemis Cooper exposes this strange psychology but doesn’t really explain it, probably because it’s so inexplicable.

But an untortured character wouldn’t make nearly such a good read! I highly recommend this book, faultlessly read by Eleanor Bron whose voice is perfect in capturing the clipped tones of the upper class of the times. Artemis Cooper has produced a thoughtful, entertaining, fair and sympathetic account of a full, perplexing, sometimes infuriating life, not nearly as well known as it should be, and I know I’ll be listening to or reading this biography again soon, just as I have the best of her subject’s.

5 people found this helpful

Fascinating

An absolutely fascinating book. Eleanor Bron is a fine actress, but I found her narration difficult. It was as if the microphone was too close to her mouth, I could hear ever little sound from swallowing to lip licking etc. Found it really off-putting.

5 people found this helpful

Very Revelatory

Yes what a lot to get one's head around. Lie is stranger than fiction. Very moving in parts and so entertaining. Thank you.

3 people found this helpful

Thoroughly gripping

I've read all EJH's books and have always found her intriguing. This biography is superb and so delightfully read by Eleanor Bron. I highly recommend it!

3 people found this helpful

An admirable biography.

This is a thoughtful, insightful book about an extraordinary woman. Elizabeth Jane Howard wrote with such apparent ease and with great observational excellence, yet it was eye-opening to read what a tortured soul she was. She was evidently an indulged woman, very needy in every regard, but seemed to carry a burden of never feeling she was good enough, having failed to find the 'great love of her life'. Her charisma and beauty did not seem to give her the confidence one would expect but she used these to attract to her an enormous group of admirers, most of whom she regarded as friends and on whom she was constantly reliant. She was evidently a kind and generous woman but these traits were seemingly often repaid by an expected loyalty.
It is now apparent that she had an enormous work ethic....only partly for her writing, but in the efforts she made in entertaining lavishly, in fundraising, and in her many talents in gardening, sewing and all forms of creativity. One feels she would be rather exhausting company, albeit entertaining. However, whilst never making judgemental comment upon her subject Artemis Cooper leaves one aware that despite writing books which have enjoyed a constant large following, she had some real character flaws. As a mother, a mistress and as a wife she remained essentially a self-absorbed woman.who was never quite truly happy. Nonetheless, by the end of this biography one can only be in awe of such a force of nature as Elizabeth Jane Howard.
The clarity, simplicity and honesty of this biography are to be applauded. Great research has obviously been done to ensure its accuracy. Highly recommended.

2 people found this helpful

A life story well told and well narrated

I have read most of Elizabeth Jane Howard’s novels and found all of them well written, intricately put together, incredibly funny and enjoy the way in which Howard has the skill to describe the complexity of relationships. Artemis Cooper’s biography has led me to believe that Howard wrote Novels that were based almost identically on Howard's life experience. An incredibly sensitive, thoughtful and well researched biography that I would recommend to anyone to read. The book left me slightly disappointed in Howard herself as a person. I so wanted her to be a woman full of confidence in herself as a woman and a writer and she was not.

2 people found this helpful

Looking For Love

If you listened to The Cazalets, as I did ((several times, as it happens), then this biography of the author Elizabeth Jane Howard, is indispensable. Told with both sympathy and candour, we are taken through the life and times of this remarkable, supremely gifted woman. Today I think she would be classed as a screaming nymphomaniac, but this book succeeds in convincing us that, following a loveless childhood, she was both 'used and abused' by husbands and lovers, often neglecting a brilliant career because of their demands. This pathetic search for love led her into making many sacrifices, particularly during her marriage to Kingsley Amis.

I enjoyed this well-written, well-read account of an amazing life, and especially as it gives us the real-life backdrop to the many books she wrote.

2 people found this helpful

Elizabeth Jane Howard

A superb biography and beautifully read by Eleanor Bron. I really didn't want it to end. What better accolade for a book.

1 person found this helpful

A fascinating life, researched thoroughly

Any lover of the Cazalet Chronicles will enjoy learning more about EJH’s life and how she wove her own experiences into her characters. Very sensitively read, although the reader had an issue with saliva, which was audible and grated on my nerves, becoming almost unbearable when using headphones!

Extraordinary biography

This is a really remarkable book that provides full immersion and thorough detail not unlike the subjects famous saga. What it also does is leave the reader with a comprehensive understanding of what made Elizabeth Jane Howard tick, in a beautiful, sympathetic but truthful way. I feel fully acquainted which is a gift.