Book Description

From USA TODAY Bestselling author, Kathryn Gauci, comes a powerful and unforgettable portrayal of the hardships of war combined with the darker forces of village life. 'I saw him everywhere: in the brightest star, in the birds that came to my window - he was there. After a love like that, you can endure anything life throws at you.' Set on a Greek island in the Aegean during the German Occupation of Greece, The Blue Dolphin reads like a Greek tragedy. Rich with loyalties and betrayals, it is a harrowing, yet ultimately uplifting story of endurance and love. 1944 Greece: After Nefeli loses her husband during the Italian invasion of Greece in 1940, she ekes out a meager living from her Blue Dolphin taverna with the help of her eight-year-old-daughter, Georgia, their small garden, and Agamemnon the mule. Four of Nefeli's close friends, who belong to the Greek Resistance, ask her to hide a cache of weapons, placing her in mortal danger from the enemy. When the Resistance blows up a German naval vessel filled with troops, three of them are killed, and the Germans start to make regular visits to the island. With the loss of her friends, Nefeli's dire circumstances force her to accept a marriage proposal arranged by the village-matchmakers, but what happens next throws everyone on the island into turmoil and changes the course of Nefeli's and Georgia's lives forever. Extravagant, inventive, and emotionally sweeping, this is a novel that lovers of Nikos Kazantzakis, Louis de Bernieres and Victoria Hislop will not want to miss.