Bitter Lemons is the product of Lawrence Durrell's final sojourn in the eastern Mediterranean, an eventful three years (1953-1956) spent on Cyprus. Although the island lies within sight of the southern coast of Asia Minor, its small Turkish population was and continues to be outnumbered by a large Greek majority. At one time or another part of the Persian, Roman, Byzantine, Venetian, and Ottoman empires, Cyprus had been a British territory since 1878.
Durrell had been employed by the British Council in Argentina and by the Foreign Office in Yugoslavia, but had found both countries stultifying. Cyprus promised a return to the passionate and vital Mediterranean world he had earlier experienced in Corfu and in Rhodes. It also promised freedom, for he had given up government employment and hoped to plunge into writing. Yet he...
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Citation: Koger, Grove. "Bitter Lemons". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 June 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6326, accessed 10 December 2025.]
