Sisters Under The Rising Sun

Author: Heather Morris

Publisher: Zaffre/Bonnier Books

Available: 28^th September 2023 in Hardback, eBook & Audiobook

Thank you to Anne Cater, Random Things Tours and Zaffre/Bonnier Books for my lovely, gifted copy and for having me on the blog tour for this book. My review is based on my experience of the book and any thoughts expressed here are solely mine alone. 

Book Details:

Sisters under the Rising Sun tells the story of a group of women from Australia, England, the Netherlands and beyond, who were captured by the Imperial Japanese Army in 1942 and held in brutal conditions in a camp in the Indonesian jungle.

Mainly based upon the real-life experiences of Australian nurse Sister Nesta James and English musician Norah Chambers, who, after surviving a brutal 24 hours in the sea, reached the beaches of a remote island, only to be captured by the Japanese and held in one of their notorious POW camps – places of starvation and brutality, where disease runs rampant. Sisters in arms, Norah and Nesta fight side by side every day, discovering in themselves and each other extraordinary reserves of courage, resourcefulness, and determination.

Sisters under the Rising Sun is a story of women in war, exploring the powerful bonds of sisterhood of over 500 hundred women who struggled and survived together for nearly four years in the darkest of circumstances.

My Thoughts:

Today, I have the immense pleasure at sharing my thoughts on Heather Morris’s latest novel Sisters Under the Rising Sun. I am unreservedly a huge fan of Heather’s books. I feel that Heather brings the human touch to history, she is inspired and influenced by the stories and experiences of the unremembered, because as she puts it, how can you remember someone whose story is not known to you. Through her considerate, cohesive, and creative skill in merging real life experiences with artistic license, she endeavours, eloquently to shed light in history’s dark corners, where the passing of time, is slowly erasing all who survived such difficult times and taking with them, their memories and stories of courage, fortitude, humour, and survival.

I have a rather odd confession now, when I hear that Heather has a new book on its way. I always experience contrasting reactions; a sort of curious dread descends! On one hand I really want to read the book, but at the same time, I am also reluctant to actually start reading it! Not because I will find it lacking in anyway but because I know deep down inside of myself that once I start reading, I worry about processing the emotional turmoil that may arise. Heather’s powers of engagement are simply irresistible despite the complex context of the stories, she chooses to share with her readers. Having read her previous books, I know that for good reason, they often come with a weighty emotional burden for us readers to digest. Because of this, I feel I need to mentally prepare myself for the emotional draw to come, hence my reticence to start reading. Reading Norah, Nesta, and Margaret’s story. I had the heartfelt sense of being overtaken by a vortex of emotions from compassion to rage and back again, as Heather transports us to the wilds of the Sumatran jungle and into the footprints of her cast of characters, who are struggling and surviving. Women from all walks of life and of all ages from nurses and nuns to wives, mothers and daughters, who suffer deprivations, loss, starvation, illness and ill treatment, the likes of which, I can hardly imagine (especially from the comfort of my sofa) being anyone’s reality, never mind having the mental stamina to live through it!

This is a story of how a diverse group of women survived being Japanese prisoners of war in the remote, scorching, inhospitable jungles of Sumatra. Even before their internment, many of them escaped the boat they were on being bombed and sinking, leaving them adrift on the ocean or being able to swim to land (though many couldn’t) and finding no rescue! Through the eyes and experiences of the characters, as readers we are shown the failings of humanity, regarding how the Japanese during the war period dealt with civilians and military prisoners, it is unfailingly brutal! The dehumanisation, the unnecessary cruelty, the withholding of basics necessities, food, water, medical supplies. The vile insistence, that those in their charge, kowtow to their victorious whims, the full extent of which, you will discover for yourself, when you read this book.

I can’t wait for you to meet Norah, Nesta, Margaret and Inchy, Ena, Betty, and discover their back stories and then to follow their testing and often harrowing experiences during the war. Yet despite all the hardships they endure, these determined, remarkable women find a way to hope and bring humour and connection to all around them including their captors, through music. As both Nora and Margaret are both gifted musicians and between them create a voice orchestra and write (on any scrap of paper they can beg, borrow or steal) and re-imagine hymns and music for the women to sing and put on concerts with. The Captives’ Hymn and Ravel’s Bolero brought me to my knees literally! More so because I didn’t just read about them! I was so immersed in this book, that I literally couldn’t put it down, even when I had a supermarket shop and household chores on my to do list. So I treated myself to the audiobook, in order to keep reading and had the great privilege to hear these pieces of music, sung and I sat in my car in the supermarket car park, with the tears just pouring down my face, I was so moved by the intent, the words and music!

From the moment you open this book, you cannot fail to appreciate Heather’s ability to weave visual magic in her story telling, you can feel, hear, and see the pandemonium of civilians trying to flee the arena of war. The roar of plane engines, the destructive whine of bombs dropping, the innate tension of the characters, their fear, sadness, and desperate hope that all will be well. Even now days after finishing this book, the image of group of singing Australian Nurses standing together, saying farewell to each other collectively on a dock, without really knowing whether they will make it home or when, is etched in my head and as I write this thinking of them, it brings tears to my eyes, a lump in my throat and a smile of pride and admiration to my lips as I think of these women and their extraordinary strength in adversity.

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. I read the entire book in one day and the ethos and essence of the women and their circumstances, shared with the novel does not leave you even when you’ve turned the last page. But the end of this book does not finish with the novel. As Heather has shared with us readers, what happened next in the lives of Norah, Nesta and few of the others, culminating in the wonderful statements from their families. For me this is a book, that will never leave my heart and mind and now that I know Norah and Nesta’s stories, I will never forget them and I really hope, you buy a copy and see exactly what I mean for yourselves.

Happy Reading Bookophiles…

About the Author:

Born in New Zealand, Heather Morris is an international number one bestselling author, who is passionate about stories of survival, resilience, and hope. In 2003, while working in a large public hospital in Melbourne, Heather was introduced to an elderly gentleman who ‘might just have a story worth telling’. The day she met Lale Sokolov changed both their lives. Lale’s story formed the basis for The Tattooist of Auschwitz and the follow-up novel, Cilka’s Journey.

In 2021 she published the phenomenal conclusion to the Tattooist trilogy, Three Sisters, after being asked to tell the story of three Holocaust survivors who knew Lale from their time in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Together, her novels have sold more than 16 million copies worldwide. In 2020 she published Stories of Hope, her account of her journey to writing the story of Lale Sokolov’s life.

Please do read some of the other reviews available on this blog tour.