My Family and Other Animals - by Gerald Durrell (Paperback)

About the Book

Originally published: Great Britain: Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd., 1956.

Book Synopsis

The first book in Gerald Durrell's Corfu Trilogy: a bewitching account of a rare and magical childhood on the island of Corfu, which was the inspiration for the Masterpiece PBS series The Durrells in Corfu.

When the unconventional Durrell family can no longer endure the damp, gray English climate, they do what any sensible family would do: sell their house and relocate to the sunny Greek isle of Corfu. My Family and Other Animals was intended to embrace the natural history of the island but ended up as a delightful account of Durrell's family's experiences, from the many eccentric hangers-on to the ceaseless procession of puppies, toads, scorpions, geckoes, ladybugs, glowworms, octopuses, bats, and butterflies into their home.

Review Quotes

"A lot of frolic, fun, and charming ribaldry, as well as the warm feeling of having been transported to a lovely spot where worry is unknown and anything is believable."-The New York Times

"A most enjoyable idyll." -The New Yorker

About the Author

Gerald Durrell was a British naturalist, writer, zookeeper, conservationist, and television presenter born in Jamshedpur, India, in 1925. A student of zoology, he founded the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust on the Channel Island of Jersey. He wrote many books about his life as an animal collector and enthusiast, the most famous being My Family and Other Animals, which was the inspiration for the Masterpiece PBS series The Durrells in Corfu. He passed away in 1995.