Midnight. The sky is clear, star-stamped and silvered by the waxing gibbous moon. No planes have flown over the islands tonight; no bombs have fallen for over a year. The snub noses of anti-aircraft guns gleam, pointing skywards. The cliffs loom like paper cutouts, hulking shadows above the natural harbour of the bay. Everything is flattened by the darkness, as if the sea around Orkney is a stage set, waiting for an entrance."
Scotland, 1940.
On a remote island, a prisoner-of-war camp is raised to house 500 Italian soldiers sent to Orkney to wait out the war. Upon arrival, a freezing winter and a divided community greet them.
Where their neighbours see faceless enemies, orphaned sisters, Dorothy and Constance, see sick and wounded men unused to the icy cold, and volunteer to nurse them. But while Constance remains wary of the soldiers, Dot finds herself increasingly drawn to Cesare, a young man on the wrong side of the war, broken by the horrors of battle.
Cesare and the other soldiers spend their days building a barricade between the islands. By night, they construct a reminder of their homeland - an exquisite Italian chapel, fashioned from Nissen huts and debris from the sea.
As tensions between the islanders and outsiders grow, the lives of these three people are set on a collision course. Each is forced to weigh duty against desire... until, one fateful evening, a choice must be made, one that will have devastating consequences.
***
Before I even began this book I was intrigued by the premise. Identical, flame haired, reclusive twins who live on a cursed island in the Orkney's was too good to resist reading.
There are many novels set during World War II but I feel that this book delivers something a little more substantial than the average. It is an enthralling story which captured the atmosphere of living on a small island alongside a prisoner of war camp whilst also weaving in local myths.
The perceived threat felt by the islanders seemed very real to the reader and the book captured the tension and fear of the island population extremely well.
However, amidst all this bad feeling runs a thread of love and hope as the twins, Dorothea and Constance, become nurses in the POW camp. Their reasons for doing so are individual and this willingness to place themselves inside the camp to aid the prisoners leads them to be further ostracised from the inhabitants of the islands.
As orphans, they only have one another and, as such, are extremely close. Ms Lea's depiction of her characters is excellent, all of whom are flawed in some way, giving them a realistic feel. Nobody was wholly good or completely bad and in doing this, the author was able to present them in a multi-layered and non-stereotypical fashion.
The descriptive sections are beautiful to read. The author has clearly chosen and placed each word carefully. The book is strong on plot whilst having a poetic feel to it.
Although all of the characters are fictional, the book is based around real events. There, indeed, was an Italian prisoner of war camp on the island of Lamb Holm in the Orkney Islands (Selkie Holm in the book.) The prisoners did build a chapel made out of Nissen huts and scraps and what they achieved was remarkable. I have included some photos at the bottom of this review.
I found the book heart-wrenching and inspiring in turn. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it.
ISBN: 978 0241 423301
Publisher: Michael Joseph
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