War has not yet reached the village on the island of Cephallonia where the doctor's daughter is engaged to a fisherman When the Italians arrive, though, the fisherman joins the resistance and a young captain is billeted in the doctor's house At first Corelli is ostracised, but he proves to be civilised, humorous and musical, and the working of the eternal triangle seems inevitable With vicious speed, the war becomes brutal Can love survive?