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I see this one has strong reviews that all rave about the beautiful story and writing, and although I agree that these thinks are strong and sweet and poetic, I never fully connected to the book. I love WW2 stories so I expected more, and wonder if perhaps I had expectations that were too high.

Corelli’s Mandolin transports the reader to the gorgeous Greek island of Cephallonia. I really felt I came away from the book knowing the place and that aspect of the book was actually my favorite. The first character we get the chance to know is Pelagia, a woman who is the doctor's daughter and who is engaged to marry a fisherman named Mandras. War is coming, and the author gives us a strong impression of the problems Greece suffers at the hands of Italy. And then we meet Antonio Corelli who is billeted with Pelagia and her father. He (with his mandolin) bewitches Pelagia. So of course we have have a love triangle, but the book is more than a love story. It is an anti-war book. And, it is a manual of hope.

But this book is really about war and its evils. The author exposes us to all the horrors of war. Families are separated, homes are bombed, women are harassed and abused, people are held in internment camps -- and it isn't always the enemy who is committing these acts. War affects the land, destroys the history, causes grief. It brings out the worst in people. And at times it also brings out the best. Luckily, the author also shares some of that with us, covering themes of love, support, kindness, and finding peace and hope and unity in the midst of the worst life can give us.

I probably would have give it four stars if I had like Pelagia a bit more. I found her a bit simplistic and selfish. And ... I hated the last chapter.

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