Heather Morris. Photo by Ying Ang for The New York Times
Praise for Sisters under the Rising Sun
“Sisters under the Rising Sun is a heart-breaker, heart-healer and all-round heart-stirrer of a story about making unimaginable choices in order to survive the unimaginable.”
Love Reading
“An earth-shattering read.”
Woman’s Own
“… an intensely powerful novel of courage and resilience”
WATERSTONES
“… a gripping and emotional tale of sisterhood, bravery and friendship in the darkest of circumstances … Brimming with emotional intensity … a testament to the life-affirming and healing power of music and comradeship … Immaculately researched, and written with the heartfelt compassion and care that Morris puts into all her novels, this is a story with important messages that still resonate loudly in the 21st century.”
Lancashire Evening Post
“Morris masterfully portrays the strength of sisterhood … both poignant and gripping … This delicate balance between suffering and compassion is a hallmark of Morris’s storytelling … a remarkable narrative … Morris’s ability to combine historical accuracy with compelling storytelling makes for an engaging and emotional reading experience that will resonate with readers long after they turn the final page.”
LOSTINBOOKLAND.COM
“Sisters under the Rising Sun is an emotive, rich, absorbing tale that I devoured from start to finish. If you enjoy well-researched WWII novels with a fresh and unique perspective, then I highly recommend it.”
WHATSBETTERTHANBOOKS.COM
“Suffused in love, light, music and incredible camaraderie, Sisters Under the Rising Sun is an insightful, inspiring show-stopper of a story.”
Love Reading
“… moving, emotional and inspiring … harrowing, often brutal, yet ultimately inspirational story … It is a remarkable tale that cannot fail to get under the skin of the reader. It is a story, ultimately, of sisterhood and female friendship which, at its best, is one of the most powerful forces imaginable. Highly recommended.”
LIFEWITHALLTHEBOOKS.COM
“From the moment you open this book, you cannot fail to appreciate Heather’s ability to weave visual magic in her story telling … At core of this novel is the importance of sisterhood, friendship, music and survival. It is truly a brilliant, beautiful, and brutal read, that is personal, powerful, poignant and plucky, I challenge anyone to not admire and love it.”
THE FALLEN LIBRARIAN
“I hope that every story like this can be told by someone who so obviously cares about the people involved”
“Heather’s writing style and raw honesty used to tell these stories … is absolutely phenomenal.”
“I loved this book and I can’t recommend it highly enough”
“I would definitely recommend this book.”
“A devastating true story brought to life by Heather Morris”
“Heather Morris’s writing was exceptional … you felt every emotion rolling of these women”
“Beautifully written, with the most amazing characters.”
“… a story that needs and deserves to be told.”
“Honestly, just a really good book.”
“… phenomenal 5 ⭐️ novel.”
“Totally gripping and heartbreaking … highly recommend”
“Well-researched and sensitively written.”
“I will forever be in awe of these women’s courage, kindness and compassion… I couldn’t put it down”
“It holds onto your heart strings from the off and doesn’t let you go throughout”
NETGALLY REVIEWS
“Heather Morris has done it again, a punchy, no-holds barred account … Another brilliant read.”
“… compelling … A well-written story that is more than a historical novel. Readers will feel joyful, sad and angry as they get immersed in this great story.”
“Another wonderful story by Heather Morris, so well researched.”
“Sisters Under the Rising Sun by Heather Morris is a story that everyone should read.”
“What an amazing read! I’m so glad that these stories are being told by the likes of the talented Heather Morris … a wonderful story of hope and selflessness …”
“Such a powerful story. Thank you, Heather Morris, for making sure these women are not forgotten.”
“… an important and special story that has been written beautifully and thoughtfully.”
“Heather Morris has beautifully portrayed the lives of these remarkable women, who endured so much during World War II. A must-read.”
“A heartbreaking but uplifting read.”
BETTER READING AUDIENCE REVIEWS
Praise for Three Sisters
“At the heart of this unbearably sad, but ultimately uplifting novel is the unbreakable bond shared between three sisters . . . A gruelling read, but the vivid resilience of the girls, their constant care and affection for each other, is immeasurably comforting.”
Daily Mail
“Offers a fascinating glimpse into life after the horrors of Auschwitz. And that’s what makes this book stand out . . . A story of hope, spirit and sheer human resilience.”
SUNDAY EXPRESS
“Heather Morris has fast built her credentials as a ‘warrior for remembrance’, retelling these tales of hope and survival … an exultant celebration of family love and the irrepressible will to survive. Three Sisters is a heartbreaking yet uplifting and triumphant tale.”
SCOTT WHITMONT, BOOKTOPIA
“Three Sisters is a gripping, heartbreaking yet uplifting story of resilience, courage and the unbreakable bonds of sisterly love.”
CHRISTY LEFTERI, AUTHOR OF THE MILLION-COPY BESTSELLER THE BEEKEEPER OF ALEPPO
“Another heart-wrenching, deftly told tale . . . it is hard not to be moved by such a chronicle.”
THE MAIL ON SUNDAY
“Heartbreaking yet inspiring, this is a moving tale of bravery, the power of love and survival against the odds.”
MY WEEKLY
“Emotionally affecting storytelling.”
“Top page-turners selection” for DAILY TELEGRAPH
“Emotional and inspiring.”
Platinum Magazine
“A stunning novel.”
PEOPLE MAGAZINE
“… extraordinary … Morris skilfully chronicles the lives of the sisters from childhood to old age, balancing fictional invention with extensive research and immersion into the Mellers’ lives. Readers will be greatly inspired by this story of resilience.”
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY STARRED REVIEW
“Rich in vivid detail, beautifully told, Three Sisters will break your heart but fill you with hope.”
BELFAST TELEGRAPH
“Morris has a clean narrative style that eases the reader into the story without the unbearable emotional weight we sometimes expect with books about the Holocaust. The story unfolds in a deft and agile manner. The heightened suspense is sustained with remarkable skilfulness … Morris’ third book will not disappoint readers who loved the previous two. Again, we find compelling characters involved in unspeakable circumstances, dialogue that runs thrifty across pages, scenes that depict images in the readers’ minds that are vivid and absorbing.”
“Readers of historical and World War II fiction will be gripped by the conclusion to Morris’s trilogy.”
Library Journal
“… a remarkable novel … Readers interested in historical fiction, especially set during WWII, should put this at the top of their TBR piles, it’s a powerful and breath-taking story.”
BETTERREADING.COM.AU
“Heather Morris proves to be a masterful storyteller as she narrates this story of survival and courage, aided by endurable hope, love, resilience, and a promise that must be kept.”
MYSTERY & SUSPENSE MAGAZINE
Praise for The Tattooist of Auschwitz
“The kind of book you lose sleep over, and not just because you can’t put it down … They will be reading this book in 100 years’ time. In fact, it may still be on the bestsellers list.”
SIR JEFFREY ARCHER
“A sincere … moving attempt to speak the unspeakable.”
THE SUNDAY TIMES
“Odyssean story of humanity and survival.”
JEWISH CHRONICLE
“A remarkable story of survival and how love triumphed in that lawless hell. A phenomenon.”
THE TIMES
“A powerful evocation … of how true love can transcend even the most hellishly inhuman environments.”
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
“An immensely satisfying book.”
THE NEW YORK TIMES
“A remarkable achievement.”
TABLET MAGAZINE
“Based on a true story, the wrenching yet riveting tale of Lale’s determination to survive the camp with Gita is a moving testament to the power of kindness, ingenuity, and hope.”
PEOPLE MAGAZINE
“Although one might suspect that there’s far more to his past than is revealed here, much of Lale’s story’s complexity makes it onto the page. And even though it’s clear that Lale will survive, Morris imbues the novel with remarkable suspense.”
BOOKLIST
“A touching and redemptive tale of love and selflessness.”
TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
“Brilliant and heartbreaking.”
LOUISE MINCHIN, BBC BREAKFAST
“The Tattooist of Auschwitz is the story of hope and survival against incredible odds and the power of love.”
POP SUGAR
“… this is a powerful, gut-wrenching tale that is hard to shake off.”
KIRKUS REVIEWS
“Like the Nobel Prize-winning author Elie Wiesel’s Night, Morris’ work takes us inside the day-to-day workings of the most notorious German death camp. Over the course of three years, Morris interviewed Lale, teasing out his memories and weaving them into her heart-rending narrative of a Jew whose unlikely forced occupation as a tattooist put him in a position to act with kindness and humanity in a place where both were nearly extinct.”
BOOK PAGE
“An extraordinary story of a single and singular life and its great love. Heather Morris carefully recreates one man’s journey through of the world’s worst times and places, as moments of sheer will, ferocious tenacity – even luck and serendipity – transform a miracle from the preserve of hope and daydream into a long and cherished life. Her Lale speaks to one of Viktor Frankl’s clarion ideas: ‘that the salvation of Man is through love and in love.’”
ashley hay, author of The Railwayman’s Wife
“As many interviews as I did with Holocaust survivors for the Shoah Foundation and as many devastating testimonies as I heard, I could not stop reading THE TATTOOIST OF AUSCHWITZ—an extraordinary story of love so fierce it sustained people enduring the unimaginable. Read it, share it, remember it.”
jenna blum, author of Those Who Save Us & The Lost Family
“What an extraordinary and important book this is. We need as many memories of the Holocaust as we can retain, and this is a moving and ultimately uplifting story of love, loyalties and friendship amidst the horrors of war.”
jill mansell, International bestsellING AUTHOR
“The Tattooist of Auschwitz is an extraordinary document, coming more than seventy years after the events it describes, and reminding us how many stories will forever remain untold. It reminds us that every one of the unimaginably large number of Holocaust victims was an individual with a unique story … And this story is an extraordinary one, even by the standards of Holocaust stories – by turns moving, confronting and uplifting and, of course, a window on one of the most horrific events in human history. Heather Morris tells Lale’s story with dignity and restraint, never letting her own voice intrude, nor letting the love story overwhelm the greater context of displacement, trauma and survival. This is a story about the extremes of human behaviour existing side by side: calculated brutality alongside impulsive and selfless acts of love. I find it hard to imagine anyone who would not be drawn in, confronted and moved. I would recommend it unreservedly to anyone, whether they’d read a hundred Holocaust stories or none.”
graeme simsion, The Rosie Project
“The Tattooist of Auschwitz has the quality of a dark fairytale. It is both simple and epic, shot through with compassion and love, but inescapably under the shadow of the most devouring monsters our civilisation has known. Everyone should read it.”
hugh riminton, journalist, foreign correspondent, TV newsreader, and author of Minefields
“A powerful and redeeming love story set against a horrific background of unimaginable hate.”
pamela wallace, Academy Award ® Winning Screenwriter, WITNESS
“The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a profoundly moving, immense story of loss and courage, exploring the depths of the human heart. Written in unflinchingly spare prose, it will make you cry tears of both outrage and wonder. Morris climbs into the dark miasma of war and emerges with an extraordinary tale of the power of love.”
leah kaminsky, author of The Waiting Room
“An eloquent and touching account of a truly remarkable story that simply had to be told. This is an intricate and sensitive portrayal of a brave, tenacious, determined yet caring, romantic, generous, and simply beautiful soul, against a despair-filled, catastrophic environment with scenarios too harsh to even imagine. The story of Gita and Lale’s steadfast and enduring love for each other in one of the most inhumane circumstances known to mankind, alongside the cruel reality of the ‘choiceless choices’ that certain individuals were forced into during those harsh and evil times creates a dramatically vivid picture which captivates, inspires and enriches. A must read.”
cedric geffen, Co-President – March of the Living
Praise for Cilka’s Journey
“In the stirring follow-up to The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Morris tells the story of a woman who survives Auschwitz, only to find herself locked away again … Morris’s propulsive tale shows the goodness that can be found even inside the gulag.”
Publishers Weekly
“Morris has crafted a flinty heroine who actively pursues her own redemption by way of human connection … Cilka’s journey is, no doubt, an intense and treacherous one, with obstacles that might’ve broken Odysseus himself. I marveled at Morris’s ability to keep the reader engaged even as the savagery increases. Cilka herself captivates from the start; she never loses her ability to trust or empathize. Thus, this poignant tale of survival conveys hope for even the darkest of epochs.”
BOOKTRIB
“This dismaying and almost unbelievable story of survival is told in a direct, straightforward style … The collation and adaptation of factual material from many sources into an engaging, cinematic tale is done with thoughtful skill.”
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
“[An] incredible story of bravery and love.”
Library Journal
“The author’s previous novel, The Tattooist Of Auschwitz, cleverly fused an appalling true story with a fictional structure. Cilka’s Journey does the same.”
THE DAILY MAIL
“Feminist historians and other scholars who are now examining the fate of women in Auschwitz and other concentration camps will find Morris’s new novel, partially based on fact, to be illuminating … This is a story that resonates, feels accurate, and succeeds as historical fiction.”
Carl J. Rheins, JEWISH BOOK COUNCIL
“Cilka’s extraordinary courage in the face of evil and her determination to survive against the odds will stay with you long after you’ve finished reading this heartrending book.”
THE SUNDAY EXPRESS
“The sequel to the bestselling The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Heather Morris’ poignant, profoundly humane book traces Cilka’s path from concentration camp to Siberian gulag. Once more approaching an emotionally charged period of history with sensitivity and depth, Cilka’s Journey presents an unflinching story with heart and hope.”
WATERSTONES
“Her truly incredible story is one to be read by everyone.”
THE SUN
“Her courage and determination to survive makes for a heartrending read.”
THE DAILY MIRROR
“Morris’ novel teaches us that sometimes life isn’t handed out fairly, but it’s how we deal with hardship that shapes who we truly are. A must read for cosy days indoors and an excuse for letting all those bottled emotions run free.”
CONCRETE PLAYGROUND
“The story is harrowing, poignant and, sometimes, heartwarming. Morris has written a vivid account of how a beautiful, young woman ended up in the concentration camp at age 16 …What Cilka went through is heartbreaking, but it also leaves you with a sense of wonder. She was a survivor in the truest sense.”
THE SUN DAILY
“… a riveting true story of love and resilience.”
READING GROUP CHOICES.COM
“The author has explored multifaceted human emotions such as love, hate, endurance, and friendship with a profound understanding of the human psyche. Cilka’s Journey is poignant, thought-provoking and a noteworthy sequel to The Tattooist of Auschwitz.”
feminisminindia.com
“What an INCREDIBLE BOOK. Generally like movies, sequels are never anywhere near as good as the first creation – this book shatters that myth. Cilka is one tough cookie and Miss Morris is a tour de force of incredible writing. This is a perfect book club pick – and deserves five amazing shiny stars.”
JANET’S BOOK CORNER
Praise for Stories Of Hope
“Showcasing her talents as a listener, author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Heather Morris, here presents a series of tales. She presents the remarkable people she has met along her writing journey and the stories they shared with her. Additionally, Morris reveals more about her close friendship with Lale Sokolov, whose story she told, and the lessons we can take from those who open up to us. A wonderfully moving literary companion.”
“With her debut, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, and its follow-up, Cilka’s Journey, Heather Morris gifted readers with fictions inspired by true stories of love and survival in the face of adversity. Her new non-fiction book expands upon the people and tales that Morris previously wrote about, including the life of Lale Sokolov, the real life tattooist she befriended. Stories of Hope is ultimately a book about the art of listening and its power to inspire hope. Exploring the tales of people she’s met and listened to over the years, Morris shares their stories and what we can learn from them: compassion, understanding, patience, resilience and courage. As we move further away from the events that defined history, it’s more important than ever to carry on these stories into the future.”
CULTURE FLY
“Stories Of Hope examines Heather’s extraordinary journey. It takes the form of a series of beautifully rendered tales of the people she has met, the remarkable stories they have shared with her, and the lessons they hold for us all.”
MY WEEKLY
“Deeply touching, humble and filled with wisdom, Stories of Hope is the non-fiction debut from the author of the internationally bestselling novels The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka’s Journey. Exploring the extremes of human behaviour, Morris’s book is a reverent meditation on the importance of listening and the exceptional power of stories to heal and inspire.”
WATERSTONES