First published 1988
A young English writer living on the Greek island of Corfu picks up his pen in 1935 to contact Henry Miller, the American author whose novel "Tropic of Cancer" has just electrified him. Durrell's letter crosses the Atlantic to reach the middle-aged Brooklynite, who recognizes in this unknown correspondent the perfect reader he has been seeking. Miller writes back immediately, launching an exchange that will span four and a half decades. Their letters traverse continents and years, carrying literary passions, personal struggles, and the evolving friendship between two writers from different generations and backgrounds. The correspondence captures the excitement of artistic discovery and the sustaining power of intellectual kinship across distance and time.
Genres: literary-fiction, 20th-century, biography-memoir
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: epistolary, found-family
Setting: Corfu, Greece
Period: 1935-1980
528 pages · Hardcover · Faber & Faber