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Amateurs in eden the story of a bohemian marriage: Nancy and Lawrence Durrell

Hodgkin, Joanna more...

Format: Hardback
Library Classification: Adult Non Fiction
BIC Subjects: Literary studies: from c 1900 -; Novels, other prose & writers; Biography & autobiography: literary
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Imprint: Virago Press Ltd
Publication Date: 31/01/2012
Place of Publication: United Kingdom

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Nancy Durrell was a woman famous for her silences. Anais Nin said 'I think often of Nancy's most eloquent silences, Nancy talking with her fingers, her hair, her cheeks, a wonderful gift. Music again.' As the first wife of Lawrence Durrell, author of The Alexandria Quartet, it is perhaps surprising that she is an unknown entity, a constant presence in the biographies of Durrell and others in the Bloomsbury set, yet always a shadowy figure, beautiful and enigmatic. But who was the woman who was with Durrell during the most important years of his development as a writer? Joanna Hodgkin decides to retrace her mother's fascinating story: the escape from her toxic and mysterious family; the years in bohemian literary London and Paris in the 1930s; marriage to Durrell and their discovery of the 'Eden' of pre-war Corfu and her desperate struggle to survive in Palestine alone with a small child as the British Mandate collapsed.

This is not just a memoir of her mother. This is the history of a literary wife. On both counts, Hodgkin succeeds beautifully ... [Nancy's] story is not a footnote; it is absolutely central. Independent 'Frank and captivating ... rich in charm and pathos ... Hodgkin has done both Nancy and herself proud with this fresh portrait of a marriage we thought we knew, and of a woman we have never known well enough.' -- Miranda Seymour Sunday Times 'It's a cracking story, and Hodgkin ... is a meticulous researcher' -- Olivia Laing Observer 'The animating spirit that pulses through this joint biography is to be thoroughly applauded.' -- D. J. Taylor Literary Review 'An enjoyable, revisionist account of a bohemian marriage. And a smack in the face for Durrell acolytes who think the great man deserved a worthier first mate.' -- Blake Morrison Guardian

Shortlisted for Spear's Book Awards: Family History Book of the Year 2012.

Title: Amateurs in eden
Subtitle: the story of a bohemian marriage: Nancy and Lawrence Durrell
Contributors: By (author) Joanna Hodgkin

ISBN 13: 9781844087938
ISBN 10: 184408793X

Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Imprint: Virago Press Ltd
Publication Date: 31/01/2012
Place of Publication: London, United Kingdom
Edition:

BIC Subjects: Literary studies: from c 1900 - ; Novels, other prose & writers ; Biography & autobiography: literary
NBS Classification: Biography: General
Dewey Classification: 941.02092 (DC23) ; 828.91209 (DC22)

Format: Hardback
Pages: 320
Height: 234mm
Width: 153mm
Thickness: 31mm
Weight: 722g