Set in Crete, Cally's Ruin explores the relationships between sex and love and the historical horrors that shape our identities. Cally is a twenty-five year old business graduate. Her mother, who was born in Crete but has always refused to talk about it, has died, leaving one instruction: before starting her first job, Cally should visit Crete. There she meets Oliver, a reticent, very attractive US Army deserter. A night of love awakens in Cally feelings she has never known. On leaving, she learns from a television in the Athens airport that the petroleum company she is to work for is killing people with water pollution in India. These two events demolish Cally's fragile equilibrium, setting her on a new, uncharted path back in Crete, which strips her of even her clothes before leading to deep love, a horrific family discovery, and a future she never would have imagined.