The Blue Dolphin: A WWII Novel

Summary

From the Amazon bestselling author of The Secret of the Grand Hôtel du Lac, Kathryn Gauci, comes a powerful and unforgettable portrait of one woman's struggle to balance a love she knows will ultimately end in tragedy, and 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 during the German Occupation of Greece, The Blue Dolphin is like a Greek tragedy. Rich with loyalties and betrayals, it is a harrowing, yet ultimately uplifting story of endurance and love.

Greece, 1944: 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.