Review: The Metal Heart by 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...

The Orkney Islands in 1942 are a bleak and forbidding place, not least for Dorothy and Constance - identical twins who following a family tragedy are living in self imposed isolation on the supposedly cursed Island of Selkie Holm. Their world is forever altered when an Italian Prisoner of War camp is built on the island. Initially wary of the prisoners, Dorothy soon realises that there is more to them than meets the eye, particularly with Cesare, an Italian artist who plans to build a chapel on the island out of scraps and debris. The twins' lives inevitably collide with the prisoners, the other Orcadians, and with one another in ways that no one could have foreseen, with consequences that will last a lifetime.

The first thing I did upon finishing this novel was research the chapel that inspired the story. I hadn’t heard of it before and was very interested to see what it looked like and learn a bit about its history. It’s such an interesting concept, and such a beautiful place, that I can’t believe it hasn’t been explored in fiction until now!

At the heart of this story are Dorothy and Constance, inseparable twin sisters with very individual personalities. I really felt the strength of their bond, and their love for one another despite their differences. Then of course there’s Cesare. What a gentle, beautiful soul. I instantly connected to his kindness, which jarred horribly with the way he and his fellow prisoners were treated. The thought of thousands of men like him being treated like animals really brought home the inhumanity of war to me.

You get a real sense of the isolation of the Orcadians from the rest of the United Kingdom. They are disconnected from reality somehow, in their own little world with a climate all of its own, and reluctant to let the outside in. The island landscape is bleak but breathtaking - quite literally; you can visualise the raging grey seas and stormy skies as the biting wind slaps you in the face. It’s a brutal, beautiful place, and I  was utterly transported into Dorothy and Constance’s world.

Although this book is harrowing in parts and doesn’t shy away from the stark realities of war, it is a beautiful story and one that will stay with me for a very long time. I’m calling it early but this is definitely going to be up there as one of my favourite reads of the year!

*Thank you to Katie at Michael Joseph Books for this absolutely stunning review copy!*