He finally settled in Provence, France, where he lived for the rest of his life. All four parts in the focus on the same group of characters and climax in death. Set in Alexandria during the period just before World War II, the first three novels cover roughly the same period of time and the events, while Clea advances the action in time. Principal characters include the narrator L.G. Darley, his Greek mistress Melissa, the British ambassador Mountolive, the British intelligence agent Pursewarden, Durrell's spokesman for artistic vision, although his ambiguous death already in Justine , the artist Clea, and Justine, and her wealthy Coptic husband Nessim. Darley's point of view from Justine is contradicted by others in Balthazar , Mountolive gives the facts, and Clea tells of the writer's journey of self discovery.
Numerous characters disappear, then reemerge in altered form.
A hot, dry city, surrounded by desert, raked by winds and by contradictions. A relentless yet voluptuous city, beautiful and squalid, overcivilized and primitive. Although the works had much in common, The Avignon Quintet received mixed critics. His third marriage, in 1961 to a Frenchwoman, Claude, ended with her death in 1967. He had two daughter by each of his first two marriages.