Elizabeth Jane Howard, Lady Amis (26 March 1923 – 2 January 2014), was an English novelist, author of 12 novels including the best-selling series ''The'' ''Cazalet Chronicles''.

Early life

Howard's parents were timber-merchant Major David Liddon Howard MC (1896–1958), son of timber-merchant Alexander Liddon Howard (1863-1946), and Katharine Margaret ('Kit') Somervell (1895–1975), a dancer with

Sergei Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pa ...

's Ballets Russes and daughter of the composer Sir

Arthur Somervell Sir Arthur Somervell (5 June 18632 May 1937) was an English composer and art song writer. After Hubert Parry, he was one of the most successful and influential writers of art song in the English music renaissance of the 1890s–1900s. One of hi ...

. (One of her brothers, Colin, lived with her and her third husband, Kingsley Amis, for 17 years.) Mostly educated at home, she briefly attended Francis Holland School before attending domestic-science college at Ebury Street and secretarial college in central London.

Career

Howard worked briefly as an actress in provincial repertory and occasionally as a model before her writing career, which began in 1947. ''The Beautiful Visit'' (1950), Howard's first novel, was described as "distinctive, self-assured and remarkably sensual", and won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in 1951 for best novel by a writer under 30. She next collaborated with

Robert Aickman Robert Fordyce Aickman (27 June 1914 – 26 February 1981) was an English writer and conservationist. As a conservationist, he co-founded the Inland Waterways Association, a group which has preserved from destruction and restored England's inl ...

, writing three of the six short stories in the collection ''We Are for the Dark'' (1951). Her second novel, ''The Long View'' (1956), describes a marriage in

reverse chronology Reverse chronology is a narrative structure and method of storytelling whereby the plot is revealed in reverse order. In a story employing this technique, the first scene shown is actually the conclusion to the plot. Once that scene ends, the ...

; Angela Lambert remarked, "Why ''The Long View'' isn't recognised as one of the great novels of the 20th century I will never know." Five further novels followed before she embarked on her best known work, the ''Cazalet Chronicles''. As Artemis Cooper describes it: “Jane had two ideas, and could not decide which to embark on; so she invited her stepson Martin misround for a drink to ask his advice. One idea was an updated version of ''Sense and Sensibility'' … the other was a three-volume family saga … Martin said immediately, “Do that one.” The ''Chronicles'' were a

family saga The family saga is a genre of literature which chronicles the lives and doings of a family or a number of related or interconnected families over a period of time. In novels (or sometimes sequences of novels) with a serious intent, this is often ...

"about the ways in which English life changed during the war years, particularly for women." They follow three generations of a middle-class English family and draw heavily on Howard's own life and memories. The first four volumes, ''The Light Years'', ''Marking Time'', ''Confusion'', and ''Casting Off,'' were published from 1990 to 1995. The fifth, ''All Change'', was written in just a year and published in 2013; it was her final novel. Millions of copies of the ''Cazalet Chronicles'' were sold worldwide. ''The Light Years'' and ''Marking Time'' were serialised by Cinema Verity for BBC Television as ''

The Cazalets ''The Cazalets'' is a 2001 television drama series in six episodes (five episodes when broadcast in the US) about the life of a large privileged family in the years 1937 to 1947. Most of the action takes place in London, and at the family's large ...

'' in 2001. A

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

version in 45 episodes was also broadcast from 2012. Howard wrote the screenplay for the 1989 movie '' Getting It Right'', directed by Randal Kleiser, based on her 1982 novel of the same name, as well as TV scripts for '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. She also wrote a book of short stories, ''Mr. Wrong'' (1975), and edited two anthologies, including ''The Lover's Companion'' (1978).

Autobiography and biographies

Howard's autobiography, ''Slipstream'', was published in 2002. A biography, entitled ''Elizabeth Jane Howard: A Dangerous Innocence'' by Artemis Cooper, was published by John Murray in 2017. A reviewer said it was "strongest in the case it makes for the virtues of Howard's fiction".

Personal life

Howard married

Peter Scott Sir Peter Markham Scott, (14 September 1909 – 29 August 1989) was a British ornithologist, conservationist, painter, naval officer, broadcaster and sportsman. The only child of Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott, he took an interest i ...

in 1942, at age 19, and they had a daughter, Nicola (born 1943). Howard left Scott in 1946 to become a writer, and they were divorced in 1951. At this time she was employed as part-time secretary to the pioneering canals conservation organisation the

Inland Waterways Association The Inland Waterways Association (IWA) is a registered charity in the United Kingdom and was formed in 1946 to campaign for the conservation, use, maintenance, restoration and sensitive development of British Canals and river navigations. No ...

, where she met and collaborated with

. She had an affair with Aickman, described in her autobiography ''Slipstream'' (2002). Her second marriage, to Australian broadcaster Jim Douglas-Henry in 1958, was brief. Her third marriage, to novelist

Kingsley Amis Sir Kingsley William Amis (16 April 1922 – 22 October 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, short stories, radio and television scripts, and works of social a ...

, whom she met while organising the Cheltenham Literary Festival, lasted from 1965 to 1983; for part of that time, 1968–1976, they lived at Lemmons, a Georgian house in Barnet, where Howard wrote ''Something in Disguise'' (1969). Her stepson, Martin Amis, has credited her with encouraging him to become a more serious reader and writer. In later life, she lived in

Bungay, Suffolk Bungay () is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in the English county of Suffolk.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . It lies in the Waveney Valley, west of Beccles on the edge of The Broads, and at the neck of a ...

, and was appointed

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 2000. She died at home on 2 January 2014, aged 90.

Works

* Winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize * (a collection containing three stories by Howard and three by

) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * (contains the three stories included in ''We Are for the Dark'', plus "Mr Wrong") * * * *

References

External links

*
Elizabeth Jane Howard
on

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a "castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usua ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Elizabeth Jane 1923 births 2014 deaths Amis family Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English women novelists Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature John Llewellyn Rhys Prize winners Writers from London English autobiographers British waterways activists 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers Elizabeth Jane Wives of knights