''Birds, Beasts, and Relatives'' (1969) by British naturalist

Gerald Durrell Gerald Malcolm Durrell, (7 January 1925 – 30 January 1995) was a British naturalist, writer, zookeeper, conservationist, and television presenter. He founded the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Jersey Zoo on the Channel Island o ...

is the second volume of his autobiographical Corfu trilogy, published from 1954 to 1978. The trilogy are memoirs about his childhood with his family between 1935 and 1939, when they lived on the Greek island of

Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

. As in the first book, the well-known '' My Family and Other Animals'' (1956), Durrell intersperses humorous family anecdotes with rich descriptions of the fauna and flora of Corfu. It was a formative period for his immersion in and enthusiasm for natural history. Published in 1969, this book followed the huge success of ''My Family''. Durrell wrote ''Birds, Beasts and Relatives'' primarily to raise money for his animal-collecting expeditions.

Summary

''Birds, Beasts, and Relatives'', like ''My Family and Other Animals,'' offers a series of autobiographical anecdotes from the Durrell family's five-year sojourn on the Greek island of

between 1935 and 1939. The youngest child, Gerald was aged ten when his widowed mother moved her family to accompany her eldest son

Lawrence Durrell Lawrence George Durrell (; 27 February 1912 – 7 November 1990) was an expatriate British novelist, poet, dramatist, and travel writer. He was the eldest brother of naturalist and writer Gerald Durrell. Born in India to British colonial p ...

and his wife Nancy from

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the English ...

. He had another older brother, Leslie, and older sister

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular through ...

, often referred to as "Margo." He does not present events in chronological order, and some of his accounts are semi-fictionalised. For example, Gerald's eldest brother Larry – developing as the novelist Lawrence Durrell – was not living with the rest of his family as depicted in these stories. He was married and living separately with his wife Nancy, who is not mentioned in these books. The family are protected by their local friend, taxi-driver Spiro (Spyros "Americano" Chalikiopoulos) and mentored by the physician and

polymath A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...

Theodore Stephanides Theodore Philip Stephanides (Greek: Θεόδωρος Φίλιππος Στεφανίδης; 21 January 1896 – 13 April 1983) was a Greek- British doctor and polymath, best remembered as the friend and mentor of Gerald Durrell. He was also kno ...

, who provides Gerald with his education in natural history.

Background and content

Durrell wrote ''Birds, Beasts, and Relatives'' in 1968. His literary agent,

Curtis Brown Curtis Lee "Curt" Brown Jr. (born March 11, 1956) is a former NASA astronaut and retired United States Air Force colonel. Background Colonel Brown was born March 11, 1956. He graduated from East Bladen High School in Elizabethtown, North Carol ...

were reportedly very happy with the manuscript, and the book was published a year later in 1969. It received positive reviews and has been in print ever since. The book introduces new characters. Gerald makes a trip with his mother to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to visit Margo, who is temporarily there for medical treatment. Larry brings a new collection of highly eccentric friends and acquaintances into the Durrell home. The family are invited to a Corfiot wedding, and Gerry later witnesses the birth of the bride's first baby. Gerry visits an elderly countess, is made the gift of an owl, and has a grandly sumptuous meal.

Summary

Background and content

See also