As World War II intrudes upon their home, three young friends risk everything for freedom, love, and a chance at a better life. On October 28, 1940, Mussolini provides Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas with an ultimatum: either allow Axis forces to occupy their country, or face war, and Greece's response is swift. "Oxi!" they say. "No!" In a small village nestled against the radiant waters of the Aegean Sea, we find Alexei, the son of a local fisherman, and his best friend Costa, who were both born on the same night eighteen years earlier and have been like brothers ever since, though now, like all the other young men in their village and throughout Greece, they will leave their homes to bravely fight for their country. But before they go, Alexei asks Philia, the girl that he's loved his entire life, to marry him, which sets into motion the events which will change the lives of these three and their family and friends forever, and begins an epic and...

A woman from a small Greek village finds herself swept up in the long and storied history of her island—and its far-reaching impact—in this unforgettable story of love, passion, and resistance.Chania, Crete; 1941. When mainland Greece falls to the Germans after incredible and heroic resistance, the Greek government flees south to Crete: an ancient island of Gods and Kings, and Myths and Minotaurs. Maria is a villager whose husband has been away fighting with the Greek army, and after she finds a British soldier that washes up on a secluded beach near her home, and helps nurse him back to health, the Germans then turn south and invade Crete, too. Occupation, tragedy, and betrayal follow. The lives of Maria and her family change in an instant and she finds herself in a role she never thought she'd have to play—and one that generations of Cretans have had to assume before her. Steeped in history and filled with...