The Stronger Sex: The Fictional Women of Lawrence Durrell Hardcover – April 18, 2011 9781611470666

Thus, all of Durrell’s women are the saviors of the lost men who must come to them for human completion. From the women of the early works, such as Panic Spring, The Pied Piper of Lovers, The Black Book, and The Dark Labyrinth, to the Justines, Melissas and Cleas of the Alexandria Quartet, the Benedictas and Iolanthes of The Revolt of Aphrodite, the Constances and Livias of The Avignon Quintet, and Cunegonde of Caesar’s Vast Ghost-all of Durrell’s lost and ever inadequate men must ultimately find themselves and the meaning of their lives in the women who complete them. Then, paradoxically, and only then, can these same men provide the security, direction, and protection for which their women so desperately search. Thus, in the “couple” both man and woman are completed in their mutual dependence and final self-discovery.

The study refers often to the works of previous biographers of Lawrence Durrell: Ian MacNiven, Richard Pine, and Gordon Bowker.