Corelli's Mandolin

Dr Iannis practises medicine on the Greek island of Cephalonia, and his daughter Pelagia has learned much of the healer's craft from him. The novel opens in the early days of the Second World War, just before Mussolini's forces invade Greece. Pelagia is engaged to Mandras, a young fisherman.

When the Italians arrive, daily life stays tolerable at first. Their garrison commander, Captain Antonio Corelli, is a cultured man whose dearest possession is his mandolin. He answers a Nazi salute of "Heil Hitler" with "Heil Puccini".

Mandras leaves to join the Greek partisans, and Corelli and Pelagia begin a passionate affair. Love is hard in wartime even for people on the same side. Here the two must pick a path through loyalties both personal and political.

The story is told from many perspectives and darkens steadily. Atrocities pile up, old friends turn into enemies, and the island fills with eccentric figures: a drunken priest, a strongman, a fisherman who swims with dolphins. Magical realism is kept to a minimum. The book works as a love story, a war story and an inquiry into how history gets written.