On the island of Cyprus, in the overgrown ruins of Varosha--a resort town abandoned since the Turkish invasion of 1974--a secret village thrives. Here, a community of resourceful exiles and refugees lives under the radar of the Turkish authorities, thanks to the good-natured, cheerfully corrupt Colonel Kaya. Each villager has his or her own cryptic reasons for hiding among the lemon and olive trees, for trying to keep the outside world at bay. Into this refuge stumbles Elias Trifannis. A shattered, sleepless Afghanistan war veteran, he has been receiving treatment on Cyprus, where he finds solace in the arms of Eylul, a beautiful Turkish journalist. But their reprieve ends in a moment of shocking brutality that drives him deep into the ruined city. There, he finds himself drawn into the lives of the villagers, with their struggles, loves and quarrels. As he begins to heal, he edges closer to the enigmatic, secretive Kaiti and learns at last to "simply belong." But just when it seems Elias has found sanctuary, events he himself set in motion have already begun to endanger it."