IAA - The Durrells

Gerald Durrell is acknowledged as one of the most influential environmentalists and wildlife conservationists of the 20th century, and his brother Lawrence is celebrated as a novelist of extraordinary brilliance. Authorized biographies have been published on each (respectively, Botting, 1998, and MacNiven, 1999). My book will chart their relationship and examine the influence upon them of their two siblings and their parents, along with an examination on how the family was affected by the decline of the British Empire (they were initially part of the Indian Raj), WW2, and societal changes in Britain, Europe and the postcolonial world after the war. Sir David Attenborough, who knew both men, has already contributed a Foreword. Impact will be multidimensional in that both men are, respectively, icons in the history of the green movement and environmentalism and the continuation of radical, experimental fiction beyond the heyday of modernism. Their books remain in print as testaments to their legacies in conservationism and avant garde writing. Gerald’s story of the family’s experiences in Corfu in the 30s, My Family and Other Animals, endures as a bestseller, and its various screen adaptations have imprinted the Durrell family on the national consciousness. My research, involving unpublished archives, will contrast the truth against the Durrell myths. For example, My Family… was largely a fabric of inventions; Gerald the conservationist who visited Africa and South America was also a shameless racist; Lawrence the creator of magnificent novels was a misogynist, antisemite and wife-beater. The family inherited the worst aspects of the Empire and carried them into the late 20th century.