Consequences by Penelope Lively

This is a beautifully written novel, however, it was not very satisfying. After the first two main characters died, everyone else seemed somewhat the same and sadly, forgettable. Maybe I never forgave the author for killing off Matt and Lorna. I had to slog through to finish. I'll have to try the Book Award winner...

Here's the publisher's blurb
A chance meeting in St. James's Park begins young Lorna and Matt's intense relationship. Wholly in love, they leave London for a cottage in a rural Somerset village. Their intimate life together-Matt's woodcarving, Lorna's self-discovery, their new baby-is shattered with the arrival of World War II. In 1960s London, Molly happens upon a forgotten newspaper-a seemingly small moment that leads to her first job and, eventually, a pregnancy by a wealthy man who wants to marry her, but whom she does not love. Thirty years later, Ruth, who has always considered her existence a peculiar accident, questions her own marriage and begins a journey that takes her back to 1941-and a redefinition of herself, and of love. Told in Lively''s incomparable prose, Consequences is a powerful story of growth, death, and rebirth and a study of the previous century-its major and minor events, its shaping of public consciousness, and its changing of lives. "Her greatest gift, though, is her ability to see beyond mere cultural ephemera and grasp the unchanging essence of life.." - The Wall Street Journal "Her characters are beguiling, and her blend of romance and stinging social commentary is tonic." - Booklist (starred review) "A flawlessly constructed mini-epic." - The Telegraph "A beautifully written novel." - San Francisco Chronicle "A fine novel: intricate, heartbreaking and redemptive." - Publishers Weekly