{"product_id":"the-durrells-the-story-of-a-family-9781448218097","title":"The Durrells: The Story of a Family","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA variously tragic tale of escapism and assimilation, Richard Bradford's \u003ci\u003eThe Durrells \u003c\/i\u003eexplores the truth behind the image. \u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe Durrells are probably the most celebrated literary family of the 20th century. Gerald turned them into celebrities with his tripartite memoir, beginning with \u003ci\u003eMy Family and Other Animals\u003c\/i\u003e (1956) which told of his experiences with his widowed mother Louisa and three siblings during their time in 1930s Corfu. We know of the Durrells from their own writings and from the image of them created by TV, film and biographical accounts of specific figures. What we do not know is the truth. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eUsing previously unpublished material from the Jersey Archive, Richard Bradford unravels the lives of the famous four children of the Corfu era - Larry, Gerry, Margo and Lesli - as they find themselves geographically and emotionally divided amongst a backdrop of imperial decline and unrest. The children of moneyed colonialists, they were already used to being treated with aghast fascination by the island's locals, and by expatriate Britons as a disgrace to the homeland. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eYet their story goes beyond the Ionian Sea, and \u003ci\u003eThe Durrells\u003c\/i\u003e delves into the complex social and political circumstances in which the family lived, with seemingly constant threats of war and endangerment to both themselves and their natural environment.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRichard Bradford \u003c\/b\u003eis Research Professor in English at Ulster University and Visiting Professor at the University of Avignon. He has published more than thirty books, including eight well-reviewed trade biographies of writers. He has written for the \u003ci\u003eSpectator\u003c\/i\u003e and the \u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e and has been interviewed on his work for various BBC Radio Arts programmes, as well as appearing on the Channel 4 series \u003ci\u003eWriters in their Own Words\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing PLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51589890638098,"sku":"9781448218097","price":23.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_8a76c3af-b618-4027-992b-7a1ebcdc6c08.jpg?v=1756812551","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-durrells-the-story-of-a-family-9781448218097","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}