The Avignon Quintet gathers Lawrence Durrell's five kaleidoscopic,
Booker Prize-nominated novels - orbiting around the South of France
in World War II - into one epic modern classic, one of 'the
greatest novels of our time' (Sunday Times). 'Durrell is a
magician. He juggles with glittering words, he conjures up "cloud
capped towers, gorgeous palaces and solemn temples," he entrances,
intrigues and impresses.' The Times Avignon: the kingdom of kings
and Popes, capital of the historic South of France, heart of
legendary Provence. The entwined lives of a group of friends - and
lovers - are transformed forever by the outbreak of World War II.
But their dramatic present only plunges them further into the
darkness of an ancient past, as they become entangled in buried
plots, gnostic cults, religious rituals, and a mysterious hunt for
hidden Knight's Templar treasure. From Hitler's Europe to the
medieval world, French chateaus to Egyptian deserts, The Avignon
Quintet is an epic symphony of ecstasy and terror, madness and
memory, passion and death. Consisting of five majestic novels -
Monsieur, Livia, Constance, Sebastian and Quinx - it is a wild,
wise masterpiece that could only be written by the literary master
of his century, Lawrence Durrell. 'Entrancing ... Swooning ...
Charged with Durrell's strange magic.' Guardian 'An enigmatic and
secretive work, a cluster of dark passages and gaudy
treasure-filled caves ... Inventive gusto and fictive extravagance
... Sensational.' London Review of Books 'Splendid ... Reckless
all-or-nothing writing.' Sunday Telegraph 'A virtuoso, capable of
extraordinary feats.' New York Times 'Pungent and teasing ... There
is some insidious power in him that keeps one reading.' Observer
What readers are saying: 'As if Proust had written Raiders of the
Lost Ark ...Templars, gnostics, handsome princes, asylums, madness,
Freudians, southern France, Egypt, ancient tombs, castles, exotica,
erotica, incest, ghosts, gypsies, ascetics, spies, Nazis, secret
societies, bordellos, feasts, Nubian lesbians, assassins disguised
as nuns, literary doppelgangers, convents, hidden treasure,
suicide, and art.' 'Mystery, love, incest, war, espionage, gypsies,
mysticism, secret rituals: a masterful writer.' 'Magnificent ... An
incredible level of writing that should be experienced by everyone
who loves modern literature.' 'A masterpiece ... Unlike anything
I've ever read.' 'The master at his peak.' 'The writing is
spectacular, unlike anything today.' 'Deeply complex, very clever
use of language and gripping. Highly recommended.' 'Hairs suddenly
rise on the back of the neck ... Read with a glass of wine.'
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