Zoe is the story of Zoe Stamos Angelos. The story starts with her father, Peter’s, journey from Greece to America and how this incident shaped the course of Zoe’s life.

Zoe’s young life has been plagued with tragedy. Her Irish-American mother, Katherine, dies when Zoe is seven years old. Their mother’s death thrusts Zoe and her younger sister into a series of abusive child care facilities.

Aunt Moira comes from Greece to rescue the girls and assume the running of the home. Moira is well meaning, but fatalistic in her approach to life. She is also determined and ethnocentric. She strips the house of any vestiges of Katherine’s Irish heritage, has the girls baptized in the Greek Orthodox religion and changes their names according to Greek tradition.

Zoe is very intelligent and aspires to obtain a college education. Her goal is temporarily thwarted when Moira marries and Zoe is forced to leave school and assume the running of the household. Zoe, ever resourceful, enlists her teacher to continue her studies.

Zoe grows to adulthood, eventually marries a restaurateur and has a child. One wintery night, her husband is killed in an auto accident. Her father and aunt tell her that this is her fate and Zoe must return to the safety of her father’s home as, “A woman cannot cope on her own.” Zoe’s decision results in a challenging journey as Zoe realizes the only way to survive is to take control of her life.

© 2022 Mary Kachoyeanos

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