Alexandria quartet
Author
1) Justine
Author
Series
Alexandria quartet volume 1
Formats
Description
On the eve of World War II in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, an exiled Irish schoolteacher becomes involved with Justine, the Jewish wife of a Coptic Christian.
2) Balthazar
Author
Series
Alexandria quartet volume 2
Pub. Date
1958
Description
The deeply affecting second novel of the Alexandria Quartet, which boldly questions perception and the nature of contemporary love. In Alexandria, Egypt, in the years before World War II, Durrell's narrator, Darley, seeks to fully understand his sexual obsession with two women: the infamous Justine, and Melissa, a dancer. In Darley's conversations with Balthazar, a doctor and mystic, it soon becomes clear that Darley's fixation is more complex and...
3) Mountolive
Author
Series
Alexandria quartet volume 3
Pub. Date
1959 [c1958]
Description
The astounding third offering in Durrell's Alexandria Quartet, a richly detailed and extraordinary expansion of the events of Justine and Balthazar. David Mountolive is a British diplomat who views love as just another everyday transaction. But as romance turns to betrayal and secret alliances are exposed, Mountolive's affair will bring the true complexity of contemporary love to the forefront amid the swirling political climate of Alexandria. ...
Author
Series
Alexandria quartet volume 4
Pub. Date
1961, c1960
Description
The final installment of the Alexandria Quartet. Years after his liaisons with Justine and Melissa, Darley becomes immersed in a relationship with Clea, a bisexual artist. The ensuing chain of events transforms not only the lovers, but the dead as well, and leads to the series' brilliant and unexpected resolution. Praised by Life as among the 'most discussed and widely admired serious fiction of our time,' Clea carries on Durrell's assured and...