This story is set during the second world war, at an interesting time when some Italian prisoners of war were sent to the Orkneys, to build a barrier to prevent German u boats attacking the British fleet, and ended up building a chapel which can still be seen today.
Twins Constance and Dorothy live alone on an uninhabited island close to Kirkwall, after a series of traumatic events made them leave their family home.
This island is where the camp for the Italians is built, and where the action of the book takes place.
The building of a relationship between one of the prisoners, and the twins is central to the plot, and drives the narrative, as does the building of the chapel, making something beautiful out of nothing. There were many twists along the way, and it made an interesting tale of how much we all really have in common.
There was a missed opportunity to explore the effect of the prisoners on the local community, and this could have made the narrative richer.
All in all, a good read.

Thanks to Netgalley and Michael Joseph for the opportunity to read this book.

The Metal Heart by Caroline Lea is set on the Scottish island of Orkney and the fictional island of Selkie Holm during World War 2, and is partly inspired by the real life building of the Italian chapel on Orkney.

In general I tend to stay away from WW2 novels, mostly because my grandfather fought in the war before becoming a POW and his stories always seem much more visceral and exciting than anything fictional. However, I loved Caroline Lea's first novel, The Glass Woman, so I decided to give this a try.

The book tells the story of twins Dorothy and Constance (Dot and Con) who have suffered the trauma of losing their parents and have moved off the island of Orkney, onto the nearby smaller island of Selkie Holm, which is rumoured to be cursed. There are also hints that Con has suffered some sort of attack at the hands of a local boy, Angus, which has also driven the women away from the main island.

Lea fictionalises the real life attack on the HMS Royal Oak in Scapa Flow, and turns this into the Royal Elm. This attack triggers the building of fortifications around the island, mainly with the use of labour supplied by Italian POW's. The POW's are held on Selkie Holm and inevitably Dot and Con come into contact with the prisoners. Unfortunately, Con's attacker, Angus is a guard at the POW camp.

The arrival of the prisoners and all that entails, is initially an unwelcome intrusion on the women's lives, but Dot soon finds herself falling for one of the prisoners, Cesare.

As with The Glass Woman, Lea introduces some of the mythology that comes stems from living somewhere so remote and wild. Personally for me I would have liked more of the mystical stuff in the book, but that's my personal preference. The people who are attracted to this book as a WW2 novel probably won't mind that. For me there was also a feeling of inevitability that comes whenever a writer uses twins in their work, and sure enough, there's no big surprise there.

Those are minor criticisms though, and overall I did enjoy the book. The treatment of the POW's at the hands of their captors is cruel and savage, but also the effect on the islanders of having them nearby, when so many families have lost loved ones to the war is sensitively handled. The war has overwhelmed everything and the ordinary people caught up in it are simply trying their best to keep their heads above water, regardless of what side they are on. Lea handles both sides with empathy and compassion, reminding us there are humans on both sides, and ultimately, nobody wins.

Set in Orkney during the Second World War, The Metal Heart follows twins Dorothy and Constance on a journey of love, fear, and discovery. With both parents lost, the women have moved away from their old life, and the past that haunts Constance, to Selkie Holm—an island steeped in superstition and legend. The locals stay away, fearing the stories, but the girls are determined to create a home for themselves.

There may be a hole in their roof and a chill in their bones but they’re together and that’s what counts. With only the two of them living on the small island, their lives are peaceful but, of course, this is wartime and peace doesn’t last. In the dead of night, a German submarine sinks a ship stationed offshore, claiming the lives of many young men, and soon 500 Italian prisoners of war are sent to fortify the waters.

But these 500 prisoners must live somewhere and where better to build a prison camp than the small, cursed island of Selkie Holm? As tensions rise between the locals and the outsiders, the twins volunteer at the prison hospital, tending to the sick and wounded men who struggle in Scotland’s harsh winter.

Though when Dot begins to grow close with Cesare, one of the prisoners, Constance is left reeling. She knows it can only end badly but the more she pulls Dot away from him, the harder she fights. As the months pass, bonds are broken and lives are changed, and the small quiet life the girls dreamed of comes crashing down around them.

As you can see from my four star rating, I did really enjoy this novel. Though the facts have been changed from Orkney’s true wartime history, one thing shines like a beacon of light. While in Orkney, the Italian prisoners built a chapel and it still stands today on the shores of the island and can be visited by tourists. I’m not entirely sure why some elements were changed from fact to fiction but I would still like to visit the island, which in reality is called Lamb Holm, just to see the exquisite building.

Character wise, Constance and Dorothy may be twins but they couldn’t be any more different. Dot is trusting, open, and wears her heart on her sleeve whereas Constance has been hurt and struggles to accept anyone but her sister. The novel follows both their points of view and we get to see the story from polar opposite narratives. We feel Constance's fear and turmoil but it’s kept in perfect balance with Dot’s love and hope.

At times the story relies too heavily on telling us what is happening instead of showing us but it doesn’t take away from Caroline Lea’s compelling prose. The story was touching and the love between Dot and Cesare is palpable, and days later I’m still thinking of it.

There are some twists along the way that I disagree with but I can’t delve into them without giving away the story. Though I can assure you that these things haven’t changed the way I feel about the novel as a whole as I still highly recommend it. This is a short book and the plot itself is pretty easy to read but it needed to be. Anything more and it would have felt overembellished and complicated so I think Lea strikes the perfect balance of keeping it simple while still being interesting.

At the end of the day, The Metal Heart is an emotional story of two souls who must fight to be together in a world that wishes to tear them apart. It is a hauntingly beautiful tale of the brutality of war and the love that can overcome almost anything.

A haunting, historical look at Orkney's past during WW2 as the islanders encounter prisoners of war building barriers in the sea to prevent attacks.
I found this a compelling read with in-depth characters and an emotional analysis of war, love and sisterhood, where you are left wondering who the true enemy is.

I enjoyed most of it it’s about a love story set in Orkney and twin sisters who fall in love with a prisoner and the other one has a partner who is not very nice they have to defend the island from the Germans the problem with the book it was too slow so I did skip a lot of pages but overall a good read. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an early copy.

Having read "The Glass Woman", I jumped at the chance to read "The Metal Heart" by Caroline Lea. Set in the remote islands of Orkney during the Second World War, twin sisters Con and Dot's island is changed by the arrival of 500 Italian prisoners of war. The story, and relationships portrayed in this book are beautiful.. I loved the fact that the Italian chapel they build, and the metal heart are based on fact. Makes the book all that bit more special.

🌟B O O K R E V I E W🌟

The Metal Heart - Caroline Lea

𝑶𝒓𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒚, 1940. 𝑭𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝑰𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔-𝒐𝒇-𝒘𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒊𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔. 𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒊𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒎𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒔𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒓𝒑𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒘𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝑫𝒐𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆. 𝑨𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒏𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒋𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒊𝒄𝒌.

𝑺𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝑫𝒐𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝑪𝒆𝒔𝒂𝒓𝒆, 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒖𝒑 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒏 𝑰𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒆𝒍 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒘𝒂𝒓 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒎.

𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑪𝒐𝒏, 𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒂 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕, 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓; 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎.

𝑺𝒐𝒐𝒏, 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 - 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝒃𝒚 𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒎𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒖𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒓𝒆. 𝑨 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈...

Set in Orkney during the war it opens with a body being rescued from the sea and a ritual burial and a metal heart placed where a beating one should be. The Fleet is torpedoed by a U-Boat at Scapa Flow, Dot and Con, living in an abandoned bothy on Selkie Holm are amongst the locals who rescue men from the sea. Italian POW’s arrive to their island to fortify the defences and they work at the camp as nurses. Friendship blossoms between Dot and Cesare one of the POW’s, she rescues him from drowning and a connection is made.
The Italians are allowed to build a chapel from old abandoned metal, mistrust and resentment grows, locals and prison guards and the twins play off against each other.

There is a wonderful atmosphere created and conjured in this book. You can feel the spray and pull of the sea, the cold that penetrates your bones, the isolation of the camp and the island. The affects of war, trauma and death are laid bare. How they affect people, how being separated from what you know can change your entire being.

‘𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅.
𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆. 𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒔𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒔. 𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆.’

This is a love story at its heart, two people brought together through war, who cling to each other and the hope of a future together. I wanted to know how this ended and I didn’t want it to end badly, but this is war and bad things happen.
You can feel the love developing between Dot and Cesare and burning for each other, gently at first but building through the book. It is beautifully written with a truth about it. But where there is love there is also distrust and hatred- the fear of the local Orcadians mixed with myth and legend feels powerful. The four main characters lives are entwined rushing towards the end that you feel cannot go well for any of them. Then came a twist and the fear and the cold dread and sadness of what happens - Oh my word - and so this book broke my heart, big gulping breaths required, not what I expected but wonderful!

✩✩✩✩✩

[AD-GIFTED]

A gripping tale set on Orkney during WW2. The plot manages to intertwine with the creation of the Italian Chapel without being an absolutely true story. A very atmospheric setting which all who have visited Orkney will recognise.

Loved this! So good, so exciting, so gripping and great story. Can't wait to read more by this author - absolutely brilliant.

Another 5* read for 2021. Beautifully written story with the dramatic coastlines of the Orkney Islands as a backdrop, a world away from the current situation we are experiencing. Exactly the kind of escapist reading I needed. Two islands, two sisters escaping their past and an Italian prisoner of war camp, makes for a dark and haunting novel filled with moments of love, romance and a desire to protect ones family from harm. Initial false impressions of the prisoners of war are replaced with a love for a fellow human being miles from family and friends. As the war continues tensions with the islanders increase and the desire to escape the strain of the sisters relationship and imprisonment becomes apparent..

Thanks to Netgalley the author and publishers Michael Joseph for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review

The description in this is beautiful but the story is slow in places. Still, I was enjoying it until, near the end, one of the characters does something so completely odd and nonsensical in order to move the plot along. It really jarred.

This was such a beautiful read. We meet Dot and Con, twin sisters, as they are living in relative isolation in the Orkney isles in 1942. Their peace is soon disturbed when a Prisoner of War camp is established nearby and a camp-full of Italian PoWs arrive. Between Con’s previous encounter with one of the camp guards and Dot’s fascination with a prisoner whose live she saves early on in the story, it is clear that their lives will never be the same again.

The story is really well written, and I love the fact that much of it is inspired by a real PoW camp in the Orkneys that, like in the book, saw prisoners make the most of their situation and create a beautiful chapel out of nothing but scrap metal and concrete. The relationship between the sisters feels very real, and their paths they each follow as a result of their respective experiences is interesting to follow. The prisoners and guards are also great, and it was fascinating to learn more about what life may have been like in a UK-based PoW camp during WWII. There was plenty of romance as well as wonderfully descriptive scenes of the locations that have certainly made me want to visit The Italian Chapel in Lamb Holm.

I really enjoyed this one, and would certainly read more by this author.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

It’s 1941 and Dot (Dorothea) and Con(stance) Reid are twins and are living in a dilapidated bothy on Selkie Holm, an island across from Kirkwall, preferring this isolation to living amongst fellow Orcadians. After a German submarine slips unobserved into Scapa Flow and a ship is destroyed with huge loss of life, Churchill determines that the islands need fortifying. These are known as the Churchill Barriers (a fact!) and are built by Italian POW’s (also a fact) who will be housed on Selkie Holm. The emotional story that follows is told by Dot, Con, Orcadians and Cesare a POW.

This wonderful story largely based on facts (dates and so on have been changed for literary purposes) and I really like the fact/fiction aspect woven in with Orcadian legends. The characterisation is really good, Dot and Con as twins have a tremendous closeness and a bond which means they often act unselfishly to protect the other. Con carries a burden which Dot does all she can to alleviate and help Dot to regain lost trust. The Italian POWs are well depicted especially Cesare, you see their difficulties and how torn they are politically and being far from home in an isolated place where the weather in the Orkneys is often unkind. The weather does provide an atmospheric chill to match the storyline especially the threat of Angus MacLeod to the twins and Cesare. Angus is a vile brute and whenever he’s in the storyline your heart sinks and you know it’s not going to be good. I love how the author shows how the Italian Chapel (a fact, it’s on Lamb Holm) is a symbol of hope, for the Italians who built it, for Orcadians, for the future and I’d love to visit it one day. The premise and plot are good, the novel is well written, the pace is good throughout. There are some colourful descriptions allowing the reader to visualise scenes with ease. There’s everything in the story from warmth and love, there’s tension, fear and at times terror, there’s harshness but also kindness, there’s bravery, trauma and sacrifice. The conclusion is shocking, twisty and unexpected but it feels right.

Overall, a compelling read which I enjoyed very much.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Penguin Michael Joseph for the arc in return for an honest review.

I was interested to read this book as I’ve been to the Italian Chapel in Orkney and was curious to know how it fitted in to this novel.The main characters are Con and Dot,twin sisters who have left their home in Kirkwall to live on the fictional island of Selkie Holm after a trauma suffered by one of them.The island becomes home to a POW camp set up to allow the Italian prisoners to build the Churchill Barriers ,and there the sisters work in the hospital where one of them meets and falls in love with Cesare ,who in the book is the creator of the chapel.
There are elements of truth in the story ,but I felt it was a bit melodramatic in parts and that I would have liked more of the story to be dedicated to the building of the chapel and the reaction of the locals, as I know they treated the POWs very sympathetically,which doesn’t always show in the novel.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review which reflects my own opinion.

Set in the Orkney Isles in 1942, this tells the story of the Italian Chapel and how it came to be built. My son, who is in the Navy ,sent a picture asking ‘ where is this.?! I replied Italy, he said no, the Orkneys, and sent pictures galore of this beautiful chapel, and then sent on some information, all news to me! The idea of Italian POW’s being sent to the Orkneys, that must have been one hell of a culture shock, the weather alone absolutely freezes the bones, and long before really warm clothing was issued to troops and prisoners alike, , no wonder the hospital was always full of people suffering frostbite to the extremities. The Italians have been sent to build causeways to protect the Naval ships that are based there, being so close to Scapa Flow, that must have been a constant reminder of how much damage a submarine or U Boat can inflict.
Twins Dot and Con live on a small island called Selkie Holm. Both women are greatly traumatised, both parents were lost at sea, and both women have suffered at the hands of a local man, Angus Macleod, who evidently believes in the concept of ‘ rough wooing’ , or sexual assault.
When their quiet island becomes home to a thousand Italian prisoners, and Angus is one of the guards, both women volunteer at the camp hospital, they feel safer away from Angus, and whilst nursing the men, Dot and Cesare fall in love.
To keep up the spirits of the volunteered workforce, permission is given to build a chapel, a little taste and memory of home. Materials are given and all work hard. Dot and Cesare decide to escape the night that a party is being held upon completion of the Chapel. However, in true Shakespearean style, some live and some die.
A wonderful story that mixes fact with a romance fiction. It tells how the chapel was planned and built, how it provided encouragement for the men, so far from home. I never knew Italian prisoners were sent all that way, Jersey and Guernsey, and the other Channel Islands as they were so close to Germany, but the Orkneys is such a remote location.
I loved this story, at times there was an other worldliness about the many myths and legends in a tightly gathered fishing community, and it was intriguing. Dot and Con are two women, who have been dealt an appalling hand in life, and I really wanted them to both find happiness. The violence was relevant to the story, revenge was dished out appropriately.
A haunting tale. Now, I really want to go to the Orkneys to see this Chapel. Let’s hope this year we can fire up the Motorhome and be on our way!,
I have rated this as a four star read. My thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph UK and Netgalley for my ARC, in exchange for an honest review. I will post this to Goodreads and Amazon later.

The Metal Heart is a love story based on some historical facts. It’s set during 1942 on Orkney when five hundred Italian prisoners-of-war are brought in to build causeways between the islands of Orkney to protect naval ships moored there. This was following the bombing of a Royal Navy battleship by a German submarine.

The prisoners-of-war are based on the an island which has only two inhabitants – twins Dorothy and Constance who moved to a broken down bothy there to escape past trauma in their hometown of Kirkwall on the main island. They are in their early twenties and feel very vulnerable when the prisoners-of-war and accompanying guards arrive on their deserted island.

I wasn’t aware of any of the history of Orkney’s part in the second world war and the legacy left by the Italian men so this novel was of interest to me as I love learning of real events through historical fiction. After I've read such a novel I like to research the real life events and find out more. This was challenging as the name of the ship bombed was changed, as was the name of the island where the Italian camp was and the names of the key people. I found this a little odd and disingenuous to the real people in involved. Also, some of the dates were changed to make the novel pacier, as explained by the author at the end.

The pace was a little slow at the start but did pick up towards the end. I did enjoy The Metal Heart but would have preferred the real facts within it to be kept true to history.

With thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The blurb makes it seem as if this is a piece of romantic fiction, but there is more here than just a love story.  Constance is a broken women, scared of all men, and she has her reasons.  She appears to be suffering from what we would now recognize as PTSD. Her abuser is working on the same tiny island as her and she can't avoid him forever.    He is the villain of the story and a character you can love to hate.  A brutal man who's idea of love is beating a woman into submission.   He is the cause of Con's disgrace and the reason why the two sisters are hiding out on the island in the first place.   

This is a book about how beauty can be created out of war and how love can flourish in the most unlikely of circumstances. This is also a book about twins, and how despite being born with the same genetics, life choices and experience have moulded them into two very different women.  About how they cope with the grief of losing their parents and the struggles of being at war. 

One of the key themes that seem to run the author's works are the way in which the sea shapes the people around it, and how a respect of the ocean is an essential piece of self preservation.  Death by drowning being the most common way to die in her books so far, but I guess growing up on the island of Jersey has left it's mark. 

The narrative stars with the sinking of a warship by a German submarine and the twin's subsequent rescue of several sailors not all of who it make it.  This changes one of the twins far more than the other.  

The story is told in the third person first from Dot's perspective but as the narrative develops we read the inner thoughts of the other twin Con, Cesare one of the Italian POW's and from the townspeople collectively known as the Orcadians.  

But this book is at heart a love story, and a good one.  

One minor thing that bugged me was the cover, ok it is beautiful don't get me wrong, but the lighthouse which takes the central position isn't found anywhere in the story, but maybe that's just me nitpicking. 

The ending was great with the many twists and turns before it climaxing in a satisfying way but leaving some of it open to the reader's imagination. 

The island itself is almost a character.  We are told that it is cursed and that anybody who lives on it suffer the consequences and at the beginning of the book the twins are alone there.  But the arrival of 1000 men changes it forever.  
A great piece of WW2 historical fiction about an aspect of the war that is rarely mentioned. And a love story to boot.

Review due to be published on 22nd April 21 (1 week before book publication date)

Possible spoilers

A slow build for me,as we got to know the scenery,the history,the sisters,the prisoners,and the other islanders.
But by the end,I was a little bit broken.
A story that so many times had me wondering who the bad guys were in all of this (its war,there appears to be no good guys ),and how damaged was Con ,and what exactly DID happen that night.
So many questions,all of them answered.
The last few chapters had me almost wiping a tear away.

I loved Lea's last book,and thrilled this one lives up to expectations.

Caroline Lea is firmly on my list of must-read authors. She writes flawlessly, breathing life into the story and transporting you there with ease. I tore through The Metal Heart, but I also wanted it to last forever so I could stay with Dot, Con, and Cesare for just a little while longer.

Atmospheric, emotional, and truly gripping, I fell head over heels for this book.

This was such a beautiful story I was completely immersed in it from the start and it was such a change from the gritty thrillers I usually read.
Set in the magnificent and atmospheric Orkneys it’s is the tale of twin sisters trying to survive on an uninhabited island called Selkie Holm when their life is suddenly changed by the arrival of Italian prisoners of war who have been brought there to build defence barriers around the islands.
This is such a wonderfully written novel it’s has so much going on with romance, war and lots lots more with an ending that was just so satisfying.
The imagery that the author has brought about with the exceptional writing really made this book stand out for me, it’s always such a joy to me to pick up a book and be transported to another time and place but such is the power of the written word.
So a book I can highly recommend the characters were all excellently crafted and the historical facts very interesting I really did love it.
My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.