Balthazar

Lawrence Durrell

Apr 2000 · The Alexandria Quartet Book 2 · Naxos AudioBooks · Narrated by Nigel Anthony

About this audiobook

The politics of love, the intrigues of desireÊÉ love and murder, moved obscurely in the dark corners of AlexandriaÕs streets and squares, brothels and drawing-roomsÊÐ moved like a great congress of eels in the slime of plot and counter-plotÉÕ In Balthazar, the second volume in DurrellÕs Alexandria Quartet, the story and the characters come more clearly into focus. Darley, the reflective Englishman, receives from Balthazar, the pathologist, a mass of notes which attempt to explain what really happened between the tempestuous Justine, her husband Nessim, Clea the artist, Pursewarden the writer; new figures emerge and play key roles. Balthazar, in his ÔInterlinearÕ, explains and warns.

About the author

Lawrence Durrell was born on February 27, 1912 in Jullundur, India to British parents. During World War II, he served as a British press officer. His first novel, Pied Piper of Lovers, was published in 1935, but was considered a failure. Some of his other works include The Black Book, The Alexandria Quartet, The Avignon Quintet, and Caesar's Vast Ghost: A Portrait of Provence. Bitter Lemons won the Duff Cooper Prize in 1959. He died on November 7, 1990 at the age of 78.