In the summer of 1944 three Italian prisoners-of-war are billeted in a remote farming village in the north-east of Scotland. For the young, unnamed, cottar’s wife who lives in the adjoining cottage, and who is tasked with looking after them, their arrival opens up a glimpse into a different world, a world far removed from the harsh realities of crofting life and the constraints of living in a tight-knit and traditional community. More a series of vignettes than a sustained narrative, it’s a poignant and haunting portrait of rural life, where the inhabitants are perhaps even less free than the prisoners themselves. The young woman is portrayed with compassion and empathy, and the descriptions of the countryside are vivid and evocative. A charming and melancholy story, with a memorable heroine trapped in a limited world.