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The Metal Heart

byCaroline Lea

The beautiful and atmospheric story of freedom and love that will grip your heart

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Orkney, 1940. On a remote island, a prisoner-of-war camp is constructed to house five hundred Italian soldiers, where a freezing winter and divided community await them.

Orphaned sisters Dorothy and Constance volunteer to nurse the men. Dot is drawn to Cesare, a young man fighting on the wrong side, broken by war and destruction.

The soldiers spend their days building a secret barricade between the islands. By night, however, they construct a reminder of their native land - an exquisite chapel.

As tensions between the islanders and outsiders grow, the sisters' loyalty is tested. Will Dot choose love, or family?

A tense, passionate and deeply atmospheric novel about a community in wartime - and two defiant hearts. Orkney was so perfectly realised, too, that I almost felt windblown. I loved it all the more so for having read it during lockdown: Caroline's beautiful transported me entirely to another time and land

Susan Fletcher

About Caroline Lea

Caroline Lea grew up on the island of Jersey. The Glass Woman, her debut, is a gothic thriller set during the Icelandic witch trials. The Metal Heart, a Waterstones Scottish Book of the Month, is an epic Second World War love story; Prize Women reveals a feminist scandal at the heart of the roaring 20s. Her latest novel reimagines Mary Shelley and the writing of Frankenstein.
Details
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • ISBN: 9781405944359
  • Length: 400 pages
  • Dimensions: 197mm x 24mm x 129mm
  • Weight: 275g
  • Price: £10.99
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