As World War I draws to a close, Aya Katerina, a neighbourhood in Ottoman Smyrna, quietly awaits its fate and goes about its centuries-old ways. We meet Niko "the Orphan"—his Armenian father was taken away by the soldiers—and a host of other characters. Elena, Niko's aunt and talented artist; his idiosyncratic uncle Polycarp, wiser than he pretends; Manolis the Greek doctor who loves Elena; Nazım the Turkish journalist who also loves her; Niko's grandmother who holds the family together; and an assortment of neighbours. As the War ends, ancient animosities erupt, and the city is caught up in a violent Greek-Turkish conflict. Aya Katerina goes up in smoke. This is a story about impossible love and a novel about growing up. Quiet and understated, colourful and intensely moving, this is a memorial to a charmed city now lost.