The Alexandria Quartet

lawrence durrell

Lawrence Durrell's series of four novels set in Alexandria, Egypt during the 1940s. The lush and sensuous series consists of Justine (1957), Balthazar (1958), Mountolive (1958), and Clea (1960).

Justine, Balthazar, and Mountolive use varied viewpoints to relate a series of events in Alexandria before World War II. In Clea, the story continues into the years during the war.

One L.G. Darley is the primary observer of the events, which include events in the lives of those he loves, and those he knows. In Justine, Darley attempts to recover from and put into perspective his recently ended affair with a woman. Balthazar reinterprets the romantic perspective he placed on the affair and its aftermath in Justine, in more philosophical and intellectual terms.

Mountolive tells a story minus interpretation, and Clea reveals Darley's healing, and coming to love another woman.

Genres fictionclassicshistorical fictionliteraturenovelsegyptliterary fictionafricabritish literature20th century

884 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1960

Series

The Alexandria Quartet

Places

alexandria, egypt,

This edition

Format: 884 pages, Paperback
Published: December 1, 1991 by Penguin Group USA
ISBN: 9780140153170
ASIN: 0140153179
Language: English

About the author

lawrence durrell

Lawrence George Durrell was a critically hailed and beloved novelist, poet, humorist, and travel writer best known for The Alexandria Quartet novels, which were ranked by the Modern Library as among the greatest works of English literature in the twentieth century. A passionate and dedicated writer from an early age, Durrell's prolific career also included the groundbreaking Avignon Quintet, whose first novel, Monsieur (1974), won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and whose third novel, Constance (1982), was nominated for the Booker Prize. He also penned the celebrated travel memoir Bitter Lemons of Cyprus (1957), which won the Duff Cooper Prize. Durrell corresponded with author Henry Miller for forty-five years, and Miller influenced much of his early work, including a provocative and controversial novel, The Black Book (1938). Durrell died in France in 1990.

The time Lawrence spent with his family, mother Louisa, siblings Leslie, Margaret Durrell, and Gerald Durrell, on the island of Corfu were the subject of Gerald's memoirs and have been filmed numerous times for TV.