Atmospheric travelogue based in 1950s Cyprus, depicts a memorable picture of village life, and is a social and historical document of a lost community.

Written during the gradual uprising of the Greek Cypriots who wanted union with Greece, Durrell observes the people's struggles on an intimate and personal level. This is not a political book, but simply a somewhat impressionistic study of the moods and atmospheres of Cyprus during the troubled years 1953-6. So wrote Lawrence Durrell in the preface to Bitter Lemons. Durrell, who lived abroad for much of his life, brilliantly captures the romance, beauty, excitement and sadness of the island, and the lives of the people of Bellapaix where he bought a house. Durrell charts affectionately the romances and relationships of the many characters he befriended there.