Three Sisters

Product Information

Livi turns to her father, her eyes dancing, the giggle in her throat threatening to explode, the warmth of his smile melting her little heart. “I pwomise, Father. Livi pwomises.”

When I’ve read books about the Holocaust, I find myself reading in disbelief because it is still so hard to believe that these atrocities happened and did so in the recent past, yet there is no doubt they did. This story is filled with courage and hope as these girls struggle and succeed at staying alive. It’s truly an amazing and inspiring story. Morris, through one of the characters, raises the question on many readers’ minds — How could God let this happen? I have no answers but appreciate that one of the sisters has such reservations and doubts about religion and spirituality. I am sure that many who suffered in concentration camps also lost such faith.The theme of the sisters was to ‘always protect’ each other - a ‘promise’ they made to their father. I felt this ‘promise’ was over- done - but ….at the same time, yes, I get it. The Author's note at the end is very moving. She tells us what happened to each family member after the war ended. She also includes afterwords from the sister Livia, and other family. They supported Heather in telling their story even though it was such an emotional rollercoaster reliving the evil period that they endured. We all know that the stories of the holocaust are horrifying. This story does include some moments sharing a brief glimpse of the horrors to come, but this is mainly the story of those who survived, based on the real stories that were shared with the author. What gave them the incentive, the courage to have hope, to believe that there was reason for hope even when the circumstances offered them no obvious reasons to continue to believe - in this case, it was the promise they made to their father. This is a work of fiction, as it states clearly, but many of the characters included in this story were real people whose stories are shared through the creativity of Heather Morris.

Three Sisters is a remarkable novel based on the true story of three Slovakian Jewish sisters, who endured the worst of humanity to forge new and hopeful lives on the other side. Cibi and Magda exchange a glance. Livi looks from sister to sister to father, knowing that something solemn has been agreed, but with little idea of what it means. As with most historical fiction set in this time period, it is difficult to read about the horrible treatment that Jews faced and the incredible resiliency of the survivors. This story has a hopeful ending though as eventually the sisters make it to Israel after the war and start a new life there. It takes more than a new setting though to get through the survivor’s guilt that many have and each cope with it differently. Some chose to never speak of the past and others shared their stories with family and friends. From international bestselling author Heather Morris comes the breathtaking conclusion to The Tattooist of Auschwitz trilogy. Magda, aged seventeen, stays with her mother and grandfather, hiding out in a neighbour’s attic or in the forest when the Nazi militia comes to round up friends, neighbours, and family. She escapes for a time, but eventually she too is captured and transported to the death camp.

Three Sisters details the harrowing experiences of a family during wartime and beyond. From a loving, peaceful existence in Vranov to a horrendous period that continues to defy reason. And later in Israel, where survivors worked to rebuild their lives with the mental and visible scars serving as constant reminders of all what they had experienced and those they had lost.