Lawrence Durrell, Prospero's Cell

Grove Koger (Independent Scholar - Europe)
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Prospero's Cell

is the first of Lawrence Durrell's travel books, written in Egypt during World War II and published at war's end. Along with his experimental novel

The Black Book

(1938) and his first two important collections of poetry –

A Private Country

(1943) and

Cities, Plains and People

(1946) – it established his reputation among discerning readers and critics, but it was only with the publication of the novels of

The Alexandria Quartet

that the book became widely popular, attracting tens of thousands of visitors to the Greek island it celebrates.

Corcyra (or Corfu, as it is known to most English-speakers today) is the northernmost of the Ionian Islands, lying within easy sight of the mainland opposite the Greco-Albanian border. Part of Greece since 1864, Corfu and its

933 words

Citation: Koger, Grove. "Prospero's Cell". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 November 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2537, accessed 19 March 2024.]

2537 Prospero's Cell 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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