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rhiareads 's review for:

The Metal Heart by Caroline Lea
5.0

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing me a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a beautiful, sad, heartwarming, heartbreaking novel.

It follows Orcadian twins Dot & Con, who, after the loss of their parents, move from Kirkwall to a tiny, supposedly cursed island, populated with only some ruined huts and the half-ruined bothy in which they live. Their peaceful life is shattered by the building of a prisoner of war camp and then influx of the Italian POWs and their guards. It is a story of finding love in the unlikeliest of places, of fighting against all the odds, of faith and belief and trusting in oneself. It is beautiful and I almost cried into my coffee finishing it this morning.