Chapter 1 Summary

The chapter takes place in Aghia Anna, a small Greek fishing village on a Greek island. Andreas, a tavern owner, sees a fire in the bay coming from the Olga, his friend Manos's tourist boat. He doesn't want to believe it's true, but when he sees a small group of tourists climbing the hill toward his tavern and watching the flames in horror through a pair of binoculars, he knows it must be. Andreas privately believes the fire started because Manos took on too many people and let them drink too much. Later, it roared out of control because there weren't enough fire extinguishers or life vests. Though deeply saddened by the tragedy, he is angry because he feels it could have been prevented.

The tourists are kind to him when they realize that this is his village and he knows many people...