Beasts in my Bed is a book written in the same oeuvre as the Durrell books, full of lively animals, eccentric, colourful people and looniness. Jacquie, a much less accomplished writer than Gerald, trades more heavily on the charm of their lives much more heavily. Jacquie worked alongside Gerry from the first month of their marriage. She helped him write and edit his many, many books. She was part of the expeditions, working long, muddy, gruelling hours looking after animals.
This book, written by her in her late 30s is full of love and respect for Gerald but is rendered ironic because of the reader's knowledge that a decade later she would divorce him. She does touch upon the demands Gerry's vocation placed on their marriage but does not obviously talk about his drinking, one of the major grounds for their divorce. Even PG Wodehouse has more serious moments than Durrell does in his books. Jacquie's book, despite its efforts to stay within the endearing sunlight of Durrell antics, where there is no space for grief or tragedy, gives away too much without meaning to.
First, Durrell's arch footnotes appear throughout the book. I kept wanting to say, 'Straighten those eyebrows! There are startling lapses into the brand of humour that a friend calls 'My wife is the Home Minister, heh, heh!
She married when she turned 21 and gave up her career. From the beginning, it was clear that there was no space for two careers in that marriage. Jacquie grew attached to the animals herself and became integral to the expeditions and the zoo. And after the first chapter where she talks of her decision to marry and assist Durrell in his life's mission, she never talks of opera again. She lightly talks of her family's opposition to the marriage.
The truth was that after she eloped with Gerald, she never spoke to them again. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. This new edition has allowed her to reflect on those times and to give readers an extra glimpse of life with Gerry. Jacquie and Gerry travelled from Africa to South America, Asia and be "An enchanting and very funny book" Sunday Times In , Jacquie Durrell decided to describe her own experiences of living with her famous husband, Gerald Durrell and the Durrell family.
Jacquie and Gerry travelled from Africa to South America, Asia and beyond, collecting animals from the most remote corners of the world for the Zoo they planned to open together, encountering a menagerie of exotic beasts - both human and animal - along the way.
These trips, as 'glamorous' as they may have seemed, were not without their trials. She writes openly and honestly about the ups and downs of her marriage to Gerry; from the moment she first set eyes on her future husband and the trouble their relationship caused with her father, to the struggles they endured during their later years of marriage yet managing to recount her experiences with with good humour throughout.
She viewed Gerry as a dreamer and it was she who urged him to write and to encourage him to give talks to the BBC and led to a number of television series, all of which enabled them financially to open up their own Zoo. By , their relationship came to an end and Jacquie left Gerry and pursued a new life on her own. Jacquie's very personal observations on the situations in which she found herself; of holidays with Larry and his wife; of long lunches with family and friends; are told with hilarity, wit and warmth, and offers a refreshing insight to her own character, independent of the supportive and encouraging role she had always been cast in as 'Gerry's wife'.
Get A Copy. Kindle Edition , pages. Published January 31st by Peach Publishing first published More Details Original Title. Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list ». That is, until an encounter with a guest lecturer called Gerry mapped out her destiny in ways she could never have foreseen.
This enchanting autobiographical account of his idyllic Corfu childhood and early fascination with the animal kingdom was the Harry Potter of its day — on the school curriculum and a bible for adults and children alike. Enlisted by Durrell to drive him to a university dinner at a local restaurant, they got so distracted talking about wildlife that they arrived hours after everyone else.
She was hooked. At 52, he was 24 years older than she was. After he visited my university a few years later to see the lemur breeding programme, he telephoned and asked me to come to Jersey and set up a sound-recording laboratory I was studying animal communication. Once I was there, it became quite obvious we were going to be together. Like many British children, Tracy Breeze grew up with the stories of Gerald Durrell and his extraordinary family exile on the beautiful island of Corfu.
She will see her teenage grandmother continue her search for love and a cure for acne as the war — and the end of their island idyll — approaches. Margo had stayed in Corfu after her mother and two of her brothers, Leslie and Gerald, left at the outset of war. She went on to meet an RAF pilot called Jack Breeze who was stationed there and, after Jack convinced her of the danger she faced from the approaching Nazi troops, the pair escaped to South Africa where they married in The nuns caring for her managed to smuggle her out and eventually she made her way to safety in Mozambique.
After the war the couple returned to collect a birth certificate for Gerald. I remembered nan saying she had to return to the UK to have her second child Nick, as she could never have a baby away again but she did not elaborate on why.
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