Join Faber Members for 10% off your first order. Use code members10.
Summary
Rediscover one of the twentieth century’s greatest romances: this seductive tale of four tangled lovers in wartime Egypt, introduced by André Aciman (Call Me By Your Name and Find Me), is ‘wonderful’ (Elif Shafak)
I remembered Justine saying harshly as she lay in bed: ‘We use each other like axes to cut down the ones we really love’.
Alexandria: the great winepress of love. Trams, palm trees, and watermelon stalls lie honey-bathed in sunlight; in darkened bedrooms, sweaty lovers unfurl. But in a world trembling on the brink of war, passion and death are inextricable. When a penniless schoolteacher begins an affair with Justine – a married Egyptian lady of unparalleled glamour – their partners are sucked into a whirlpool of jealousy and violence.
One of the world’s greatest romances, rich in political and sexual intrigue, Lawrence Durrell’s scandalous ‘investigation of modern love’ set the world alight in 1957 and – as André Aciman reveals – it burns just as brightly today.
What Readers Are Saying:
‘Sometimes you discover a new author and know you’re going to be friends for life … One of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read.’
‘I absolutely adored this book … I felt sucked into it with an amazing force by the beauty of the words … The backdrop of 1930s Egypt’s literary circles and bohemian relationships is mesmerising … Breathtaking.’
‘Shimmering and dreamlike … One of the most beautifully written books I’ve read … All of life is here; can’t wait for the next one.’
‘Lush, brutal, beautiful … Durrell captured a place and time that will never exist again.’
‘What makes this novel truly spectacular is the language, the episodic jumps in time, the lush lyricism, and how Durrell so deftly manages to tie this all into both the city of Alexandria and the themes of passion, love, and jealousy. ‘
What The Critics Said:
‘A masterpiece.’ Guardian
‘One of the great works of English fiction.‘ Times
‘Dazzlingly exuberant … Reckless … Superb.’ Observer
‘Brave and brazen … Lush and grandiose.’ Independent
‘Legendary … Casts a spell … Reader, watch out!’ Guardian
‘Lushly beautiful … One of the most important works of our time.’ NYTBR
AndréAciman
André Aciman is the New York Times bestselling author of Call Me By Your Name, and various works of fiction and non fiction. He’s the editor of The Proust Project and teaches comparative literature at the Graduate Center in New York. He lives with his wife in Manhattan.
Read MoreAndréAciman
More books by André Aciman
The Faber team have excellent taste in books, just as you would expect. We’ve compiled the ultimate summer reading list for …
The graphic novel adaptation of André Aciman’s international sensation is re-imagined for the first time by comic artist Sarah Maxwell.
Are you an André Aciman fan? Sign up to our quarterly newsletter to hear directly from André himself.
Read an exclusive extract from Room on the Sea, a tender love story from the bestselling author of Call Me …
Whether your bag is escapist fiction or you’ll be stubbornly reading a philosophical tome with your Aperol Spritz this summer, …