All Change

Today I finished the Cazalet Chronicles, by Elizabeth Jane Howard. All Change is the fifth book in the series, and the one she wrote almost twenty years after the other four. The story is set nine years after Casting Off ends, and it took me a while to get into it. Somehow, this book felt disconnected from the other four in time, space, characters, but also in writing style. In the first four novels, chapters consisted of one character's view of the world, the way they spent their time. In this last novel, characters are grouped together in chapters, with one chapter towards the end including short snippets of almost all the characters in the novel. I say 'almost', because some of the main characters of this (and previous) stories somehow disappear mid-novel, never to appear again.
There were other inconsistencies as well; some personalities seem to have changed between novels (I read one review saying 'the characters act out of character'), some needless repetition, especially concerning food (how many oysters can one book hold?) and a focus on actions rather than thoughts. It feels like this novel could have done with some more editing. She wrote the story shortly before she died, and sadly, it really isn't her best work.
The plot concerned mainly the younger children, whereas we didn't really see the main characters from the earlier novels, some of them appeared just as backdrops. Somehow, this made me sad, as the stories about Polly, Clary and Louise showed them breaking free from the patriarchal constraints; now they were reduced to mere mothers, mothers with relationship troubles.
I would almost wish she hadn't written the novel, although I do love knowing how all the characters ended up. They are back to normal life, the war being over, but somehow normal life is harder for them than the war period. Still, that somehow reduces their lives to petty disputes about petty things, whereas if earlier novels taught us anything, it was that this family will get through whatever the world throws at them. In the end, that does turn out to be true, although again the plot focuses on action rather than thought or feeling. The ending is quite nice, if only because it is an open ending, leaving the reader to dream up a better future for all of these beloved characters. If I were to reread the series again, I would leave out this last novel.
The title says it all, ironically; the story, the writing, even the characters, all have changed. And not for the better.