The Island of Zoe

A young Greek American woman travels to the island of Petra bearing precious cargo: her late grandmother's body, to be buried on the land where the old woman spent her youth. But when Zoe arrives on Petra, she finds that her grandmother, Maria, has left her an opulent villa and old family secrets hidden in the mystery of the island. Zoe notices how spry and fit the island's elderly residents are. In fact, no one has miraculously died in over seventy years, and time actually stands still on Petra. After Stefanos, a dapper older gentleman, ends his life the night of Grandma's funeral, Zoe learns that Stefanos and her grandmother were lovers and realizes there's much more to the island than meets the eye. Zoe sets out to discover the island and uncovers strange happenings: there isn't a single working clock or telephone, rich migrants from all over the world live clandestinely in the hills, the island is on permanent lock-down by the Greek Navy, and the main residents are subjected to repeated medical tests. Manos, the raki-loving bon vivant who runs the local general store, hints that the islanders are paying a price for what they did to Grandma Maria and Stefanos but refuses to reveal more. Hoping to sell her grandmother's house and use the money to help her troubled retail business back in America, Zoe inadvertently falls for the local priest's son, Paris, who will soon be a priest in his own right. As romantic tension mounts between them, he admits his reluctance to become a priest. Believing Zoe is a threat to their immortality, several islanders gang up on Zoe and try to expel her from Petra when more truths come to light...