Captain Corelli's Mandolin

Captain Corelli's Mandolin is a book written by Louis de Bernieres in 1994. The book tells the story of a physician called Dr. Iannis and his daughter Pelagia. The plot is set during the Second World War on the Ionian Island of Cephallonia in Greece. Captain Corelli's Mandolin's genre is historical fiction and romance as it portrays the long-lasting love between Pelagia and Captain Corelli. The island is occupied by Italian and German soldiers and like the most local folk, Pelagia hates every soldier that occupies their beautiful home. Before Pelagia meets with Antonio Corelli and gradually falls in love with him, she was engaged to a man called Mandras. Mandras leaves Pelagia to go fight for his homeland and when he returns from the war, Pelagia realizes that she doesn't love him anymore. Even though Pelagia hates Captain Corelli at first for being a soldier, Corelli is not a war freak like the other soldiers and is against war as much as Pelagia.

As the story progresses, they come to realize that they both love each other but since war is a destructive thing, their ways become separated as Corelli goes to Italy. Corelli promises Pelagia that he will find her eventually, or they will meet in the afterlife. Due to the hard times after and during the war, Pelagia is somewhat forced to marry a wealthy man to survive in a world that is menacing, especially towards women. Years go by and Pelagia becomes a grandmother and opens a shop where she sells snail soups, the soups she had to make in order not to starve during the war times. As the book comes to an end and Pelagia reminisces about her old life and the man she loves while sitting on a bank, a man with a mandolin sits next to her. The readers later find out that the man with the mandolin was Captain Corelli and the two live the rest of their lives happily together. It is a wonderful book that shows the strength of a true love that survived the destruction of a war and long distances.