Amateurs In Eden

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 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. Amateurs in Eden is a fascinating biography of a literary marriage and of an unusual woman struggling to live an independent life.

Short-listed for Spears Book Awards 2012 (UK)
Short-listed for H W Fisher Best First Biography Prize 2012 (UK)

“"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."”

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 - Sunday Times - Miranda Seymour

It's a cracking story, and Hodgkin is a meticulous researcher - Observer - Olivia Laing

The animating spirit that pulses through this joint biography is to be thoroughly applauded - Literary Review - D.J Taylor

This is not just a memoir of her mother. This is the history of a literary wife. On both counts, Hodgkin succeeds beautifully . . . Her story is not a footnote; it is absolutely central - Independent

A truly fascinating account of one of those many women, the wives and the girlfriends and the sisters of famous literary men, who have lived a twilight existence in the shadows of the historical canon. A particularly rich and honest account - Scotland on Sunday

An enjoyable, revisionist account of a bohemian marriage - Guardian - Blake Morrison

Joanna Hodgkin has written several successful psychologial thrillers as Joanna Hines.

'The history of a literary wife . . . Her story is not a footnote; it is absolutely central' Lesley McDowell, Independent Growing up in a dysfunctional family, Nancy Durrell, the enigmatic first wife of Lawrence Durrell, future author of the Alexandria Quartet, was an introverted provincial schoolgirl who transformed overnight into a young woman of haunting beauty. From the smoky pubs of 1930s Fitzrovia to the sexual mayhem of the Villa Seurat in Paris, her story shines new light on an extraordinary group of people. In a remote village on pre-war Corfu Nancy and Lawrence found a paradise where for a time they wrote and painted, quarrelled and laughed and loved. Here, for the first time, is her riveting story. 'Nancy, as beautiful as Garbo, and as reticent, can finally take her place as a significant, if sad, figure in a story more troubling and authentic than any from The Alexandria Quartet' Miranda Seymour, Sunday Times 'A vivid picture of smoky rooms bare of furniture, madcap escapades intended to shock the bourgeoisie and inebriated nights at the Caf Royal' Bel Mooney, Daily Mail 'The bohemian world of the mid-century Mediterranean makes a sparkling backdrop to a nuanced portrait of this gifted, volatile pair' i (Independent)

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 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. Amateurs in Eden is a fascinating biography of a literary marriage and of an unusual woman struggling to live an independent life.

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