Finished the book on a six hour flight travelling back home from being on holiday and I thoroughly enjoyed it. With thanks to Boldwood books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. In Heather’s skilful hands, a compelling, inspirational story of the life of the three sisters began to form. Heather Morris is the global bestselling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka’s Journey, which have sold eight million copies worldwide.

At the end of the book, Morris shares with us actual accounts from the sisters and their descendants which was done beautifully and truly makes you feel connected to each person in the book. As children, the sisters made a promise to their sick father and to each other before he died to always be there for one another, no matter what! Years later, when all three were reunited in Auschwitz, this promise would be put to the test again and again. At the same time, there’s Magda’s fears for her sisters, how she copes with not knowing what had happened to them or where they were, the guilt she felt about not being with them and for not keeping their promise. This is a book about grief, victims, lies and secrets that move around on the shifting sands of fate.

Feeling guilty if they survived the concentration camps, feeling guilty if they didn’t suffer as much as the next survivor, feeling guilty for witnessing things they didn’t try to stop, etc. To me it does not matter the subject matter, fiction or non fiction, but how you tell the story, major or not major. La historia comienza cuando su padre, aun siendo unas niñas, les hace prometer que pase lo que pase van a permanecer juntas.

We were blessed that my father, my aba, and my ema were open with us, and didn’t keep their lives before we knew them a mystery.There aren't many Auschwitz/Birkenau survivors left but Heather Morris was able to talk with Livia, Magda, and their families, in 2019/2020, about their experiences before, during and after their lives in the concentration camps. 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.

Even the minor characters are pulled into the bigger stories and I think this led to a rather cluttered narrative. As the seventh play in Theatre Communication Group's Classic Russian Drama Series, playwright Richard Nelson and translators of Russian literature Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky continue their collaboration with a masterful new translation of Chekhov’s exploration of yearning and disillusionment. A vitally important book to never forget, and a reminder of the depth of human hope, love, and the will to survive.The true story of the Holocaust survivor who had inked prisoners’ arms at Auschwitz-Birkenau (Ludwig “Lale” Sokolov), The Tattooist of Auschwitz prompted a survivor’s adult child to reach out to Morris. The story is told simply, from the point of view of the girls, while they try to hold true to their promises to their father, throughout their lives. I don’t know if what I’m conveying makes sense, but after having read both of Morris’s previous novels (both of which had moved me deeply), I unfortunately didn’t feel the same connection to this one, despite how much I wanted to.