*'Frost in May is the unsurpassed novel of convent school life' Hermione Lee, Observer

A classic coming-of-age novel from one of the best-loved writers of the twentieth century

When newly-orphaned Cassandra Dashwood arrives as governess to little Sophy, the scene seems set for the archetypal romance between young girl and austere widowed employer. Cassandra is to discover that in real life tragedy, comedy and embarrassment are never far apart.

London and Sussex, 1942. The English family in turmoil. As the war enters its fourth year, chaos has become a way of life. Both in the still peaceful Sussex countryside, and in air-raid-threatened London, the divided Cazalets begin to find the battle for survival echoing the confusion in their own lives.

Three generations of Cazalets spend each summer in their family house - safe from the storm clouds of World War II for two unforgettable summers. These sunlit days of childish games and picnics on the beach provide a chronicle of the tangled affairs of an English family.

The story of four sisters, Caroline, Emily, Louisa and Sarah Lennox, great-grandchildren of Charles II, whose extraordinary lives spanned the period from 1740 to 1832. Underlying the drama of their aristocratic existence is a story of everyday life. Winner of the 1995 Fawcett Book Prize.