“Overflowing with the milk of human kindness, the family had invited everyone they could think of, including people they cordially disliked.” — Gerald Durrell Copy Share Image
“Well, they're queer; but they're all very old, and so they're bound to be. But they're not mental,' explained Mother; adding candidly,… — Gerald Durrell Copy Share Image
“Sometimes the fresh load of guests would turn up before we had got rid of the previous group, and the chaos was… — Gerald Durrell Copy Share Image
Gradually the magic of the island [Corfu] settled over us as gently and clingingly as pollen. — Gerald Durrell Copy Share Image
They were maps that lived, maps that one could study, frown over, and add to; maps, in short, that really meant something. — Gerald Durrell Copy Share Image
“It's all your fault, Mother,' said Larry austerely; 'you shouldn't have brought us up to be so selfish.' 'I like that!' exclaimed Mother. 'I… — Gerald Durrell Copy Share Image
As I watched the pulsing fire among the trees and heard the beat of the drum merge and tremble with the voices, forming an… — Gerald Durrell Copy Share Image
Each day had a tranquility a timelessness about it so that you wished it would never end. But then the dark skin of the… — Gerald Durrell Copy Share Image
We stared at the odd garment and wondered what it was for. 'What is it?' asked Larry at length. 'It's a bathing costume, of… — Gerald Durrell Copy Share Image
“Lying spread-eagled in the silky water, gazing into the sky, only moving my hands and feet slightly to keep afloat, I was looking at… — Gerald Durrell Copy Share Image
“Larry was always full of ideas about things of which he had no experience.” — Gerald Durrell Copy Share Image
“No sooner were they drowsing pleasantly than the Magenpies would start the food call, one doing the hiccoughs while the other did the piping.… — Gerald Durrell Copy Share Image
“The noise of drinking was exhilarating. Champagne corks popped and the pale, chrysanthemum-coloured liquid, whispering gleefully with bubbles, hissed into the glasses; heavy red… — Gerald Durrell Copy Share Image
My childhood in Corfu shaped my life. If I had the craft of Merlin, I would give every child the gift of my childhood. — Gerald Durrell Copy Share Image