Three Sisters

Three sisters. World War 2. A promise to stay together. A will to survive anything and an untreatable bond. Five things that when combined gift you the latest Heather Morris book, “Three sisters”.

It can be incredibly hard to think of the atrocities of WW2, and the fact that these all happened less than 100 years ago in our world, but Ms Morris delivers not only those atrocities, but the personal stories of our sisters and their extended family.

Three Sisters tells the story of family. A father who asks his three daughters to promise to look after each other, no matter what happens. The three daughters are sisters Cibi, Magda and Livi. Can they keep his promise, given the world they are living in and the situations they are facing?

The sisters find themselves in Auschwitz, where they are reunited. While they are happy to be there for each other, it is hardly a place to be happy about reuniting. They make a pledge to each other. They are determined to survive for each other. They are determined to support each other. They are determined to honour their fathers promise. They are determined to live.

Throw into this story, love, courage, sickness, determination, strength and love and you have the beautiful story that I believe only Ms Morris could tell. Having read ‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilkas Journey prior to this, I knew the style of writing to expect and the book did not disappoint. The camps of WW2 took humans and every ounce of will they had left and destroyed it, yet Ms Morris is able to relay the sisters stories with an ounce of hope. You are left on the edge of your seat, just clinging to the words and the promise the sisters made to their father.

Ms Morris has based this book, as she has her others,  on reality. Three sisters is brought to the world via her conversations with the remaining living sisters and their descendants allowing not just the story to be told, but the the rawest emotion and heartbreak to be added to it without compromise to the words on the page.

This book is published as ‘the third In the trilogy’. Tattooist being the first, Cilka being the second and Sisters being the final part. While not distinctly related, Sisters has passing mentions to Lale, our tattooist and Cilka. I recommend reading all three.

 “Sisters” left me with three things. The first being that continued disbelief that humans did what they did in WW2 in Auschwitz. The second being the powerful impact that this book had on me, after I had finished it. The third being, I wanted to know more. I wanted to do what Ms Morris had done. I wanted to sit with the sisters and family and just listen, maybe with the occasional question. I had so much to ask them.

Before this trilogy of books, I had never heard of Heather Morris. Now I don’t want to forget her. I will be reading all her work. Thank you for your words. Thank you for your gracious telling of these stories.