Captain Corelli's Mandolin

Oct 19, 2024 8:21 AM

Author:Louis de Bernières

**AS SEEN ON BBC BETWEEN THE COVERS**

25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION - WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY THE AUTHOR

'A true diamond of a novel, glinting with comedy and tragedy' Daily Mail

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 over time he proves himself to be civilised, humorous – and a consummate musician.

When Pelagia, the local doctor's daughter, finds her letters to her fiancé go unanswered, Antonio and Pelagia draw close and 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?

'Louis de Bernières is in the direct line that runs through Dickens and Evelyn Waugh...he has only to look into his world, one senses, for it to rush into reality, colours and touch and taste' Evening Standard

Reviews

A true diamond of a novel, glinting with comedy and tragedy

—— Daily Mail

A tall tale and a serious work of literature…its reputation suggests that one “should” read it, and so far I would have to agree

—— Nigel Rodenhurst , Times Higher Education

Stunning... A high-spirited historical romance...remarkable.

—— New York Times Book Review

An emotional, funny, stunning novel which swings with wide smoothnes s between joy and bleakness, personal lives and history...it's lyrical and angry, satirical and earnest

—— Observer

A wonderful epic novel...it has made him a name to conjure with. Both on the large and the small scale it is an absorbing and memorable book...the sweep, invention and warmth of the novel carries one effortlessly along

—— Derwent May , The Times

Hypnotic...a vast tapestry woven in tiny, colourful, intricate detail...a graphic and moving commentary on the futility of war. This magical book stayed in my head long after I had finished it

—— Marian Keyes

Captain Corelli's Mandolin achieves that rare feat of saying something new about war...fusing with remarkable felicity the cosmic and the tragic, the lyrical and the epic... And without offering easy answers, it poses difficult questions about love and suspicion, trust and betrayal, faith and despair, creativity and destruction

—— André Brink , Times Literary Supplement

Louis de Bernières is in the direct line that runs through Dickens and Evelyn Waugh...he has only to look into his world, one senses, for it to rush into reality, colours and touch and taste

—— Evening Standard

A master of haunted realism. His best novel yet. He deals with death and love and tragedy... This is a novel to be prized

—— Daily Mail

Captain Corelli's Mandolin is a wonderful, hypnotic novel of fabulous scope and tremendous, iridescent charm - and you can quote me

—— Joseph Heller

An enthralling tale of endurance and passion, full of emotional intelligence

—— Charles Spencer , Daily Express

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