Title: Sisters Under the Rising Sun

Author: Heather Morris

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publication Date: 28th September 2023

Publisher: Zaffre

Rating: 4.5/5

Cover:

Summary:

1942. Singapore is falling to the Japanese Army. English musician Norah Chambers places her eight-year-old daughter Sally on a ship leaving Singapore, desperate to keep her safe. As the island burns, Australian nurse Nesta James joins the terrified cargo of people, including the heartbroken Norah, crammed aboard the HMS Vyner Brooke. After only two days at sea, the ship is bombarded and sunk.

Nesta and Norah reach the beaches of Indonesia only to be captured and held in one of the notorious Japanese POW camps, places of starvation and brutality. But even here joy can be found, in music, where Norah’s ‘voice orchestra’ transports the internees from squalor into light. The friendships they build with the dozens of other women in the camps will give them the hope, strength and camaraderie they need in order to stay alive.

Sisters under the Rising Sun tells the story of women in war: a novel of sisterhood, bravery and resilience in the darkest of circumstances, from the multimillion-copy bestselling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Cilka’s Journey and Three Sisters.

Review:

I’ve read most of Heather Morris’ previous books, which, like this one, are fictionalised versions of stories of incredible people who lived through World War Two, and all of them have been moving, emotional and inspiring. Sisters Under the Rising Sun is no different. It tells a story that I haven’t heard of before (but I’m so glad I know of now) which is that of the women held in Japanese POW camps during the war, including British women, Dutch women and a group of stunningly brave Australian nurses. Sisters Under the Rising Sun is the harrowing, often brutal, yet ultimately inspirational story of their time in captivity and the way these women banded together and held each other up through unimaginable suffering and loss.

This is a work of fiction but is very closely based on the real individuals who lived through these terrifying circumstances, as is evident by the clear amount of research done by the author and the testimony of the women’s families. It is a remarkable tale that cannot fail to get under the skin of the reader. I know that people don’t really know how they would cope in a situation like the one in Sisters Under the Rising Sun, but I cannot comprehend just how incredibly brave and resilient these women were, in the face of starvation, disease, death and constant fear. Their stories deserve to be told and widely known – and this book is a testament to their courage. It is a story, ultimately, of sisterhood and female friendship which, at its best, is one of the most powerful forces imaginable. Highly recommended.

✶✶✶✶.5

Thank you so much to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for inviting me on this tour and organising it. I kindly received a copy of the book from the publisher. My review is entirely my own honest opinion.

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