Description
Lawrence Durrell's series of four novels is set in Alexandria, Egypt during the 1940s. The lush and sensuous series consists of Justine (1957), Balthazar (1958), Mountolive (1958), and Clea (1960).
Justine, Balthazar, and Mountolive use varied viewpoints to relate a series of events in Alexandria before World War II. In Clea, the story continues during the war.
L. G. Darley is the primary observer of the events, which include the lives of those he loves and those he knows. In Justine, Darley attempts to recover from and put into perspective his recently ended affair with a woman. Balthazar reinterprets the romantic perspective he placed on the affair and its aftermath in Justine, in more philosophical and intellectual terms.
Mountolive tells a story minus interpretation, and Clea reveals Darley's healing and his coming to love another woman.