After being somewhat sceptical about how much I would enjoy this book, seeming as it is far out of my usual reading comfort zone, I found myself pleasantly surprised when I found it to be a far more engaging and interesting story than I first imagined.

The story follows the life of Pelagia, the daughter of Cephallonia’s resident doctor, and her life on the island. Although Pelagia is the main focus, De Bernières also includes snippets of the lives of other characters – showing the world from their point of view to both complement and provide a contrast to the take on events that Pelagia has. You also get to see the transformation of several characters and how the war has affected their lives, often in more negative ways than good.

The way that De Bernières writes also has the amazing ability to allow you, as the reader, to feel pity for certain characters. As the way that the war has altered their personalities is often not for the better, but you can’t help but feel sorry for how such a promising life has been wasted, and transformed into something that it would never have been otherwise.

I can’t say too much about this book without giving key parts of the plot away, but it is a very worthwhile novel to dip in to; and one that I would recommend to anyone who wanted some light summer reading.