Constance (novel)
Encyclopedia
Constance, published in 1982 and sub-titled Solitary Practices, is the central volume of the five novels of Lawrence Durrell
's The Avignon Quintet
. Although the first chapter continues in Avignon, where the previous novel, Livia
, left off, and details Constance's blossoming relationship with Sam, the clouds of war are looming and with it the breakup of the group whose last summer together there was depicted in Livia. Blandford takes up a post in Egypt, kindly offered to him by the Prince. However during a visit from Sam, now a soldier, a picnic trip ends in disaster as the party comes under friendly fire, leading to the death of Sam and the crippling of Blandford. Constance, meanwhile, has moved to Geneva, where she has met Sutcliffe and Toby (despite the fact that they are theoretically fictional creations from one of Blandford's novels), and it is there she hears the news of the accident. Eventually Constance decides to return to Nazi-occupied Provence and the big house of Tu Duc, where eventually Livia puts in a final appearance, disfigured by the loss of an eye (the reasons for which are only clarified in "Quinx"), before committing suicide. Constance returns to Geneva, where she embarks on a passionate affair with the Prince's aide Affad (Sebastian).
The novel was short-listed for the 1982 Booker Prize.
Lawrence Durrell
Lawrence George Durrell was an expatriate British novelist, poet, dramatist, and travel writer, though he resisted affiliation with Britain and preferred to be considered cosmopolitan...
's The Avignon Quintet
The Avignon Quintet
The Avignon Quintet is a five-volume series of novels by British writer Lawrence Durrell, published between 1974 and 1985. The novels are openly metafictional and reflect the developments in experimental fiction following after Durrell's previous The Alexandria Quartet...
. Although the first chapter continues in Avignon, where the previous novel, Livia
Livia (novel)
Livia, published in 1978 and sub-titled Buried Alive, is the second volume in Lawrence Durrell's The Avignon Quintet. The novel revolves around the novelist Blandford, introduced at the end of the previous novel Monsieur, and introduces us to the sisters Livia and Constance, both briefly figuring...
, left off, and details Constance's blossoming relationship with Sam, the clouds of war are looming and with it the breakup of the group whose last summer together there was depicted in Livia. Blandford takes up a post in Egypt, kindly offered to him by the Prince. However during a visit from Sam, now a soldier, a picnic trip ends in disaster as the party comes under friendly fire, leading to the death of Sam and the crippling of Blandford. Constance, meanwhile, has moved to Geneva, where she has met Sutcliffe and Toby (despite the fact that they are theoretically fictional creations from one of Blandford's novels), and it is there she hears the news of the accident. Eventually Constance decides to return to Nazi-occupied Provence and the big house of Tu Duc, where eventually Livia puts in a final appearance, disfigured by the loss of an eye (the reasons for which are only clarified in "Quinx"), before committing suicide. Constance returns to Geneva, where she embarks on a passionate affair with the Prince's aide Affad (Sebastian).
The novel was short-listed for the 1982 Booker Prize.
External links
- The International Lawrence Durrell Society Official website of ILDS
- Durrell 2012: The Lawrence Durrell Centenary Centenary event website and Durrell Journal
- The Durrell School of Corfu School dedicated to the works and lives Lawrence and Gerald Durrell
- The Lawrence Durrell Archives