Elias Portolu

the long version

"After serving time in mainland Italy for a minor theft, Elias Portolu returns home to Nuoro, in rural Sardinia. Lonely and vulnerable after his prison exile, he falls in love with Maddalena, his brother's fiancee. He finds himself trapped by social and religious strictures, his passion and guilt winding into a spiral of anguish and paralyzing indecision. For guidance he turns to the village priest, who advises him to resist temptation; then he turns to the pagan "father of the woods," who recognizes the weakness of human will and urges him to declare his love before it is too late. Finally Elias chooses a course that provides a measure of redemption but forces him into a position from which he can only helphlessly observe the results of his affair."--Back cover.