My Family and Other Animals

First published in 1956, this memoir recounts the years the Durrell family spent on Corfu in the 1930s, seen through the youngest son, Gerry, who collects insects, birds, and other animals. His mother runs a succession of villas; his brother Larry writes and invites guests; Leslie shoots; Margo sunbathes; and the tutor-naturalist Theodore Stephanides takes Gerry into the island's ponds and hills. Dogs, an owl, a tortoise, and various local characters share the household. The book is a comic naturalist's childhood, not a continuous family plot. It describes the island's seasons and fauna as much as the family's quarrels.

Bound in yellow cloth, printed and blocked with a red and green picture by the artist.