Paperback, 534 pages
English language
Published Nov. 19, 1998 by Vintage.
It is 1941 and Captain Antonio Corelli, a young Italian officer, is posted to the Greek island of Cephallonia as part of the occupying forces. At first he is ostracised by the locals, but as a conscientious but far from fanatical soldier, whose main aim is to have a peaceful war, he proves in time to be civilised, humorous - and a consummate musician.
When the local doctor's daughter's letters to her fiancé - a member of the underground - go unanswered, the working of the eternal triangle seems inevitable. But can this fragile love survive as a war of bestial savagery gets closer and the lines are drawn between invader and defender?
Life on a Greek Island during World War 2. Satirises the idiotic incompetence of the warmongers, while celebrating the quirky humanity of the rest.
Parts of the book were really beautiful. Unfortunately, it was not consistently so.
