The biggest thanks of all to the people who have to live with me: to my sons, Arthur and Rupert, who never (outwardly) resent sharing me with books and are always keen to talk about stories with me. You’re wonderful and incredible: the best things I could ever hope to make. I’ll try to be better for you.
And to Roger: confidant, cheerleader, tireless reader, best friend, lovely twat. Everything I write about love starts with you.
Bibliography
Before starting this novel, I read widely about Orkney, its traditions and the chapel, as well as visiting the islands and spending hours in the wonderful, welcoming Orkney Library and Archives, which is a fount of information and the creator of the best library Twitter account I’ve come across.
For those interested in factual considerations and fictional explorations of some of the places and events covered in this book, this list provides an excellent starting point and I would begin with the superb books by Philip Paris and Donald S. Murray on the Italian Chapel.
Compton Verney, Created in Conflict – British Soldier Art (Compton Verney, 2019)
Dimbleby, Jonathan, Destiny in the Desert, The Road to El Alamein (Profile Books, 2012)
Dunn, Douglas (ed.), The Oxford Book of Scottish Short Stories (OUP, 1995)
Firth, John, Reminiscences of an Orkney Parish (Orkney National History Society, 1974)
Gardiner, Juliet, Wartime Britain (Headline, 2004)
Garfield, Simon (ed.), Our Hidden Lives (Ebury Press, 2005)
Garfield, Simon (ed.), We Are at War (Ebury Press, 2006)
Jamie, Kathleen, Findings (Sort of Books, 2005)
Liptrot, Amy, The Outrun (Canongate, 2016)
MacFarlane, Robert, Landmarks (Penguin, 2016)
MacFarlane, Robert, The Old Ways (Penguin, 2013)
Marr, Andrew, The Making of Modern Britain (Macmillan, 2009)
Marwick, Ernest, The Folklore of Orkney and Shetland (Birlinn, 2000)
Muir, Tom, Orkney Folk Tales (The History Press, 2014)
Murray, Donald S., And On This Rock – The Italian Chapel, Orkney (Birlinn, 2010)
Murray, Donald S., The Italian Chapel, Orkney (Birlinn, 2017)
Paris, Philip, Orkney’s Italian Chapel (Black and White Publishing, 2010)
Paris, Philip, The Italian Chapel (Black and White Publishing, 2009)
Tait, Charles, The Orkney Guide Book (Tait Publishing, 2017)
Walker Marwick, Ernest, An Orkney Anthology (Scottish Academic Press, 1991: edited by John D. M. Robertson)
About the Author
CAROLINE LEA is the author of two previous novels, including The Glass Woman, which was nominated for the Historical Writers Association Debut Crown Award. Her fiction and poetry have been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, the Fish Short Story Competition, and various flash fiction prizes. Caroline’s work often explores the pressure of small communities and fractured relationships, as well as the way our history shapes our beliefs and behavior. She grew up in Jersey in the United Kingdom and currently lives in Warwick with her two young children.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Also by Caroline Lea
The Glass Woman
When the Sky Fell Apart
Copyright
THE METAL HEART. Copyright © 2021 by Caroline Lea. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Originally published in the United Kingdom in 2021 by Michael Joseph, an imprint of Penguin Random House UK.
FIRST HARPER PERENNIAL EDITION PUBLISHED 2021.
Cover design by Joanne O’Neill
Cover photographs © Ildiko Neer/Trevillion Images (woman); © Magdalena Russocka/Trevillion Images (sea); © Corbis Historical/Getty Images (boats); © Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images (planes)
Digital Edition JUNE 2021 ISBN: 978-0-06-307548-1
Version 04072021
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-309274-7 (library edition)
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