Pied Piper of Lovers
| Company type | Novel |
|---|---|
| Industry | Literature |
| Founded | 1935 |
| Founder | Lawrence Durrell |
| Products | Fiction book |
Pied Piper of Lovers, released in 1935, marks the debut novel of Lawrence Durrell. Drawing heavily from autobiographical elements, it narrates the protagonist’s early years in India and his subsequent growth in London. The story continues with Panic Spring, which develops several character trajectories further.
Plot summary
Walsh Clifton, born to a mixed-race couple in Anglo-Indian society, loses his mother at the time of his birth. His upbringing takes place in India under the care of his father, John Clifton, and Aunt Brenda. Throughout his youth, Walsh navigates the complexities between his Indian heritage and colonial background. He finds greater comfort among Indian acquaintances but faces cultural friction with European traditions, particularly Christianity. His occasional feelings of superiority toward certain Indians are frequently contested alongside conventional ideas of European masculinity. Themes of mortality emerge strongly, symbolized by a human ankle bone observed in a funeral pyre and his grandmother’s fixation on death.
Upon being sent to England for schooling, Walsh encounters tensions between English paternal masculinity and Indian maternal influences. This segment explores his educational environment, awakening sexuality—including homosexual experiences—vivid dreams, and voracious reading habits. Meanwhile, his father remains in India and passes away.
The concluding section portrays a bohemian existence within Soho and other parts of London, financed by an inheritance and jazz composition efforts. Ultimately, Walsh renounces this lifestyle, closing the narrative with his first love, Ruth, who is terminally ill and under the care of a doctor present at both their births.
The Scene
The novel’s settings span Burma, India, London, and rural coastal England, with particular emphasis on rural Indian landscapes, England’s coastline, and London’s vibrant nightlife.
Further reading
- Mair, John. "Review: Pied Piper of Lovers." Janus 1.1 (1936): 29.
- Brigham, James A. "An Unacknowledged Trilogy." Deus Loci: The Lawrence Durrell Newsletter 2.3 (1979): 3-12.
- Raper, Julius Rowan. "Constructing the Feminine: Elemental Figures in Durrell's Pied Piper of Lovers." Lawrence Durrell Revisited. Ed. Corinne Alexandre-Garner. Université Paris X, 2002. 53-61.
- Alexandre-Garner, Corinne. "Exiled from Exile." Deus Loci: The Lawrence Durrell Journal ns 8 (2001): 44-57.
- Gifford, James. "Forgetting A Homeless Colonial: Gender, Religion and Transnational Childhood in Lawrence Durrell's Pied Piper Of Lovers." Jouvert: A Journal of Postcolonial Studies 6.1-2 (2001).
- Morrison, Ray. A Smile in His Mind's Eye: A Study of the Early Works of Lawrence Durrell. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2005.