Durrell family biography to Profile

Profile is to publish a biography of the Durrell family by Michael Haag titled The Durrells of Corfu.

Profile editor Mark Ellingham acquired world all language rights to the title which will follow the Durrell family during, before and after their adventures in Corfu.

The book will be published in spring 2017 to coincide with the second television series of "The Durrells". "The Durrells" is a six-part ITV drama television series based on the youngest son Gerald Durrell's three autobiographical books about his family's four years on Corfu from 1935 to 1939: My Family and Other Animals, Birds, Beasts and Relatives, and The Garden of the Gods (Penguin).

The Durrells of Corfu will cover the background to the Durrell family’s years in Corfu, including their time in India, where all the children were born, and where their father, a civil engineer, died. It will look at the real life characters the Durrells encountered on Corfu, notably the biologist and poet Theodore Stephanides, and the taxi driver, Spiros Halikiopoulos. Haag will also tell the story of how the Durrells left Corfu, plus Margo’s return to join the Greek resistance, and Leslie’s romance in England with their Corfiote maid and friend, Maria Kondos. 

Ellingham said: "Michael Haag probably knows more about the Durrells than anyone alive. He knew and collaborated on books with the family. Michael originally proposed a Durrell family biography five or six years ago – and with seven million people now rediscovering the magic of their Corfu story, the hour has come."

Haag is the author of books The Quest For Mary Magdalene and Templars: History and Myth: From Solomon's Temple to the Freemasons with Profile. He is the author of Alexandria: City of Memory, with Yale University Press, a composite biography of Forster, Cavafy and Durrell.