Having children sent away, being on a boat sunk by the Japanese, taken prisoner, and living without decent health care or food is where we meet all those who survived from the Vyner Brooke merchant ship and others as they endure the hardships in a Japanese POW camp.

The main characters were nurses who tried to keep the residents healthy and spirits up.

The nurses were the saving grace for everyone because of their resilience and positive attitudes.

They started a voice orchestra, put on plays, and did anything to keep the boredom and despair at bay.

You will love Nurse Nesta and her crew of lovely ladies.

SISTERS UNDER THE RISING SUN is based on true events and real women.

Heather Morris brings to life another WWII book telling us of the survival of women being prisoners of war. I had never heard of these sisters, their imprisonment, nor this POW camp.

You will cheer on the women when they defy their captors and feel every emotion they are feeling.

I enjoyed her other books more, but this is still a good read. 4/5

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ( )

Fleeing from Singapore in February 1942, caught between two fighting forces, with bullets raining down, it is a wonder that anyone survived. But many endured. This story tells of the fortitude and strength of these incredible people.

However horrible it was to survive near drowning it did not compare with the dreadful conditions that these brave folks lived through from February 1942 till they were liberated on September 11, 1945. Five different POW camps, all of which left more starving or dead.

This book is one everyone should read, to learn that one can survive, if you have friends around you. Received through St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley, these impressions are my own and were in no way solicited. ( )

After reading Heather Morris’ previous book ‘Three Sisters’ (loved) and hearing so much about ‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’ (haven’t read but definitely will), I couldn’t request this book fast enough. I knew very little about the Japanese invasion of the Pacific and the POW camps.

This book follows a group of Australian, English and Americans trying to leave Singapore to escape capture. Highlighted are the difficult decisions faced by families on sending their loved one ahead hoping they will be safe, being torn apart. The dedication of the nurses, putting themselves in harms way, to administer to others. The brutal massacre of innocent people. These woman are held prisoners for over 3 years. Their resiliency is amazing, as is any POW story. Unfortunately, somewhere along the line, this story was flat for me. I didn’t feel the pain, horrors as deeply as I did in her past book. It seemed almost to be glossed over. Yes, it is an important story to tell, I just felt the true story was lost. I appreciated the research and the Author’s Note. Would I read this author again, definitely. If you are someone who enjoys historical fiction but cannot handle the graphic atrocities, this book might be for you.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this ARC. This is my honest opinion. ( )

Nesta and Norah terrifying escape from Singapore is almost over…or so they think. They are on a cargo ship leaving this horrible situation when their ship is bombed from the air. They spend 24 hours in the ocean when they finally reach a remote island. They are then captured by the Japanese and held in their notorious POW camps.

It is so hard to believe this happened and it is amazing, as brutal as it was, that any of the women survived. These women were put through hell on earth but by sheer luck, determination, intelligence and compassion, they withstood all this brutality.

This is not my favorite Heather Morris book. That would be Cilka’s Journey . But, I did learn a lot in this book. It is very well researched. It is just slow in places.

The narrator, Laura Carmichael, did an incredible job. As most of you know, a big trigger for me is when a narrator has to sing. Most narrators are not singers. Laura did an pretty bang up job on that part. Still not my favorite when a narrator has to burst out in song. But this one handled it like a champ.

Need a novel of resilience…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review. ( )

Thank you NetGalley for an Advanced copy of Sisters Under the Rising Sun.

I, like many others would ready anything that Heather Morris writes. Like The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Sisters Under the Rising Sun is based on the true story of the women and nurses attempting to flee Singapore to safety during WWII. Singapore was a stronghold for the British army during World War II with many British families living there, along with a large port for both merchant and army ships. When Singapore fell to the Japanese, many families attempted to flee along with Australian nurses from the Red Cross....and unfortunately fleeing straight into the hands of the enemy when multiple ships are sunk in bombings. This story tells of the survival of these amazing women imprisoned in the jungle for over 3.5 years.

This book focuses heavily on characterization and descriptions of events. Although the number of characters is many, Morris develops them so well that it is not overwhelming. It is also hard not to become super invested in each of them.

The narrative was also very interesting. I have read many stories about WWII from a variety of sides, however, this story is not one I had heard or ever read about before. I had never heard of the Vyner Brook (the ship which many of the characters originally sailed on), nor have read anything about Japanese POW camps for prisoners other than soldiers, so this was a very fresh perspective of the atrocities of war.

The main theme of this story is hope in the darkest of times, and how hope above all else is the key to survival. These women were so inspiring in how they banded together to keep both themselves and their friends/neighbors alive.

That being said, there were a couple things I wasn't so keen on in this book. The writing at times seemed impersonal and disjointed. Some of the sentences at the end of paragraphs seemed almost thrown in to summarize, but read as detached and choppy. It was not my favorite book by Morris.

In all, this was overall an incredible story and I would recommend it to anyone that loves a WWII saga- especially one rarely told. ( )