The Teacher with the Blonde Hair

Eager to use variety and flexibility--as well as a gentle pedagogic approach in her teaching methods--the vivacious young schoolteacher with the cascade of long blonde hair, Mirto Theodorou, arrives at a secluded small village, just before the costly Greco-Italian War breaks out on 28 October 1940. Despite the anachronistic locals' blinding prejudice, Mirto falls in love and gets married to Stefanos--the honest and good-hearted son of the community's president, Panagis Karatasos--only to see him leave for the front, a few hours after their wedding ceremony. But, to make matters worse, both father and wife will hear the worst news they could ever hear, as their beloved Stefanos is missing in action, presumed dead. How will the pained widow, Mirto, cope with her irreparable loss, especially now, when there's no one to turn to? —Nick Riganas