Corelli's Mandolin

Corelli’s Mandolin is a work of romantic historical fiction by Louis de Bernières. Published in 1994 and later developed into a major motion picture, the book follows an Italian soldier and Greek doctor who fall deeply in love during World War II. In 1995, the book won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book Overall. De Bernières briefly trained at the Sandhurst military academy before working as an English teacher in Colombia. He is best known for Corelli’s Mandolin, an international bestseller available in more than thirty languages.

Corelli’s Mandolin takes place on the Greek island of Cephalonia, during the early days of World War II. The Italians have already invaded Greece, but Cephalonia is still removed from the main conflict. For most of the islanders, life hasn’t changed, although they know it is only a matter of time before things get worse.

Pelagia Iannis, a Greek doctor, works under her talented father’s supervision. She loves healing and can’t imagine doing anything else with her life. Although she takes medicine seriously, her family still expects her to get married. She is engaged to Mandras, a young local man who works as a fisherman. He loves Pelagia, but she doesn’t return his feelings.



Although her father wants her to get married, he cares about her happiness, too. Not wanting her to marry Mandras, he decides he won’t pay a dowry for her. This will surely put Mandras off her. However, since Pelagia is stunningly beautiful, Mandras doesn’t care about the money and refuses to give her up.

Soon, the Italians occupy the island. Not wanting to sit back and watch the Italians take over everywhere, Mandras joins a crew of resistance fighters. He goes off to sea and Pelagia doesn’t know when she will see him again. She throws herself into her work to take her mind off things.

Captain Antonio Corelli leads the Italian unit stationed on the island. Given his position, he expects nice accommodation to live in while he is there. Pelagia’s father takes him in. Worried about living under the same roof as this Italian soldier, Pelagia vows to keep a very close eye on him.



In the meantime, Pelagia worries about Mandras. Although she doesn’t love him, she cares about him as a friend. She decides to write to him to find out how the war effort is going. When he doesn’t write back, she has a terrible feeling that he is gone. She doesn’t share her worries with anyone, because there is no point—Mandras either comes home or he doesn’t.

Although Captain Corelli is a soldier, he is also a sensitive man. He trained as a musician before joining the forces, and he loves playing the mandolin. His mandolin is his most treasured possession. He decides that the least he can do is entertain the Iannis family while he is living with them. He plays the mandolin for them, and even Pelagia is forced to admit that he is talented.

Pelagia does her best to make Captain Corelli feel guilty for occupying the island. She knows he is only following orders, but the orders are not fair; she wants her island back. Despite her protests, Captain Corelli doesn’t leave the house. Her father gives her a small pistol so she can protect herself if she ever needs to, and this makes her feel better.



Mandras returns a shadow of his former self. He didn’t write back because he knows she doesn’t love him. He plans to recover from his injuries and return to the front. Pelagia makes him a waistcoat to take on the journey. Mandras thinks the waistcoat is hideous and he doesn’t want it. Captain Corelli takes it instead, paying Pelagia a generous sum for it.

Pelagia decides to forget about Mandras. When he returns from the front, she will tell him she doesn’t want to marry him. In the meantime, she wiles away the hours talking to Captain Corelli. He tells her that all he wants is peace. When the war is over, he plans to perform again. He wants to travel and meet new people with whom to play music.

Pelagia tells him that she wants to be a fully-qualified doctor. Although she works under her father, she doesn’t know if she will ever be respected on the island as a doctor in her own right. Captain Corelli understands this, but he admires how talented she is and assumes other people will, too.



The more time Pelagia and Captain Corelli spend together, the more they see how alike they are. For once, Pelagia has someone who understands and appreciates her. Captain Corelli believes he hasn’t met anyone like Pelagia before. It seems impossible, but he is falling in love with her, and she loves him.

Mussolini quickly loses power and Italy joins the Allies. Germans kill Italians if they see them, and Captain Corelli must flee. He promises he will return from Italy when the war is over and it is safe. Before he goes, he asks Pelagia to marry him, and she says yes. Instead of a ring, he gives her his mandolin for safekeeping.

The years pass slowly, and Captain Corelli never returns. Pelagia assumes he is either dead or he didn’t love her. She adopts a baby girl whom she raises as her own. She never marries, because she never stops thinking about Captain Corelli. When he eventually returns, she learns that he is now a famous musician. He left her alone because he thought she was married when he saw the girl. Now, they can be together. They drive off on a motorcycle.