Debut author Brita Sandstrom arrives with an unforgettable modern
folktale of the darkness around and inside us, and the courage it takes
to keep hope alive.
"Hollow Chest is remarkable on so many levels--its exquisite
writing, its startling originality, its deep empathy. An astonishing
debut." --Anne Ursu, award-winning author of The Lost Girl
Charlie has been having nightmares. Eyes watching him in the night,
claws on his chest, holding him down. His dreams have been haunted for
years, ever since German bombs rained down on London, taking his
father's life, taking his city's spirit, taking his beloved brother,
Theo, off to war in France.
Now Charlie is left to take care of his grandpa Fitz while his mother
works, waiting for the day when Theo will come home. And with World War
II nearly won, that day is almost here. Grandpa Fitz warns Charlie that
soldiers sometimes come back missing a piece of themselves, but Charlie
isn't worried. Whatever Theo has lost, Charlie will help him find it.
When Theo finally does return, though, he is cold and distant. But
Charlie refuses to accept that the brother he knew is gone, and soon, he
discovers the reason for his brother's change: war wolves. Terrifying
ancient beasts who consume the hearts of those broken by grief.
The wolves have followed soldiers back home from the front. And if
Charlie truly wants to save Theo, he's going to have to find them and
get his brother's heart back. But can a heart that's been eaten ever be
replaced?
