The Durrells of Corfu

Shirley J.                   Adult Non-Fiction                Durrell Family, Corfu, Greece, Life Pre-WWIII

The Durrells of Corfu by Michael Haag  256 pages

I love this family, I cannot get enough of their adventures.   Author, Michael Haag tells the story that Gerald Durrell did in, "My Family and Other Animals," but Haag goes deeper in to the actual facts and history of the Durrells.   He discusses in more depth their lives prior to Corfu, ie. Louisa and her husband were both born in India as were the children.  He discusses their lives in India, and other countries they were stationed in or moved to prior to moving to England, then he discusses what was going on in their lives, also mixing in the history happening at the time.  He discusses the reasons behind the move to Corfu, which were not due to finances as they were comfortable financially, he does discuss that Larry, the eldest son had moved to Corfu first with his lover/later wife, then talked his mother into coming there with his siblings.   The author shares photographs from the family's private collections as well as archival photos from Foundations, Museums and Library collections.  The author points out where Gerald's account changes some people and events to better suit his telling then Haag discloses the actual facts and who did what and how.  I like both accounts.  Gerry's for its whimsical musings of a young boy and Haag's for the true accounting behind the stories.  I am a huge fan of learning all I can about this wonderful family and plan to read more as I come across the books written by the Durrells or about the Durrells.   I recommend this to middle schoolers on up.  If you are as fascinated by the Durrells as I am, and by the PBS series about their lives, I think middle schoolers would enjoy the read.