This month marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of the poet and novelist Lawrence Durrell, so we've devoted this podcast to finding out how well his most famous work – The Alexandria Quartet, newly reissued by Faber – has weathered.
Jan Morris, who has written the introduction to the new edition, joins us to discuss the importance of place to a writer who spent most of his life abroad and disdained his native land.
Joanna Hodgkin, daughter of Durrell's long-suffering first wife Nancy, discusses the revelations of her new book Amateurs in Eden, which is based on her mother's recollections of the marriage.
And reading group supremo Sam Jordison joins us to offer a 21st-century perspective on the cult writer of the mid-20th century, as our reading group prepare to embark on a month on The Alexandria Quartet.
Reading list
The Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell (Faber)
Amateurs in Eden: the story of a Bohemian Marriage by Joanna Hodgkin (Virago)
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