Bitter Lemons of Cyprus

Into the brewing political storm of 1950s Cyprus, Lawrence Durrell returns to a world where beauty and tension mingle. This memoir follows his longing for the Corfu of his youth as he settles into a dilapidated villa and, with a poet’s eye and a passable grasp of Greek, vividly renders island life as it teeters on the edge of revolution. Rich in mood, atmosphere, and observation, it blends travel writing with an intimate portrait of a community under pressure, capturing folklore, landscapes, and the eccentric characters who inhabit a changing Mediterranean. The work stands as a prize-winning meditation on memory, place, and the fragility of a vanishing world.

Durrell’s prose invites the reader to inhabit every sensory nuance—from the scent of garlic and the sea to the cadence of local speech—while tracing the social and political currents of the time. The memoir is not only a travelogue but also a reflection on identity and belonging, written by a master storyteller whose lineage links to The Durrells in Corfu.

• Set in Cyprus in 1953 amid independence struggles
• Durrell's poetic eye captures island moods
• Includes folklore, wildflowers and eccentric locals
• A memoir and intimate portrait of a vanishing community
• Prize-winning travel memoir by a renowned author
• 288-page paperback edition by Faber & Faber