Author Talk: Sisters Under the Rising Sun - Heather Morris

Tue Aug 20 2024 at 02:00 pm to 03:30 pm UTC+10:00

The Theatre, Australian National Maritime Museum | Sydney

Australian National Maritime Museum - Events
Publisher/HostAustralian National Maritime Museum - Events
Author Talk: Sisters Under the Rising Sun - Heather Morris
Advertisement
Heather Morris talks about her new book - a story of women in war: a testament to resilience, bravery & friendship in the darkest of times.
About this Event

Join best selling author Heather Morris as she talks about her book Sisters under the Rising Sun.

It is February 1942. Amid the turmoil of World War II, a group of Australian Army nurses, among them Nesta James and Vivian Bullwinkel, have just arrived in Singapore. The women have fled there from Malaya, where they had been stationed to care for Allied troops - and they are reluctant to move on again. Their hope is to remain in the beleaguered British colony to continue their mission of treating the sick and wounded.
Norah Chambers, an English musician, has also fled to Singapore from Malaya, where she had been living with her husband and her eight-year-old daughter, Sally. A few days earlier she had sent her child away on a ship bound for Australia, desperate to keep her safe from invading Japanese forces.
As the Japanese military overruns the city, Nesta and Vivian reluctantly join a terrified cargo of people - including the heartbroken Norah - crammed aboard the merchant ship Vyner Brooke. Only two days later, they are bombarded from the air off the coast of Indonesia, and in a matter of hours, the Vyner Brooke has sunk. After 24 hours in the sea, Nesta and Norah reach the beaches of a remote island, only to be captured and held in a succession of Japanese POW camps, places of starvation and brutality, where disease runs rampant. Alongside hundreds of other women prisoners, they begin a struggle for survival that will last almost four years.
But even here, joy can be found by those with the will to defy their desperate circumstances. When Norah forms a 'vocal orchestra', with the women's voices taking the place of instruments, their music has the power to bring hope into the midst of despair.
Sisters in arms, Norah and Nesta fight side by side, discovering in themselves extraordinary reserves of courage, resourcefulness, humour and hope in their determination to retain their humanity by caring for others.
Born in New Zealand, Heather Morris is an international number one bestselling author, who is passionate about stories of survival, resilience and hope. In 2003, while working in a large public hospital in Melbourne, Heather was introduced to an elderly gentleman who 'might just have a story worth telling'. The day she met Lale Sokolov changed both their lives. Lale's story formed the basis for The Tattooist of Auschwitz and the follow-up novel, Cilka's Journey. In 2021 she published the phenomenal conclusion to the Tattooist trilogy, Three Sisters, after being asked to tell the story of three Holocaust survivors who knew Lale from their time in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Together, her novels have sold more than 16 million copies worldwide. In 2020 she published Stories of Hope, her account of her journey to writing the story of Lale Sokolov's life.


Copies the book will be available for purchase and be signed by the author.

For more information on any Members events please email [email protected]

Not a Member ? Click here


Event Photos
Event Photos
Advertisement

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Theatre, Australian National Maritime Museum, 2 Murray Street, Sydney, Australia

Tickets

AUD 0.00

Sharing is Caring:

More Events in Sydney

Financial Review Higher Education Summit 2024
Tue Aug 20 2024 at 07:30 am Financial Review Higher Education Summit 2024

The Fullerton Hotel Sydney

Public Sector APS5-6 Leadership and High Performance Masterclass
Tue Aug 20 2024 at 09:00 am Public Sector APS5-6 Leadership and High Performance Masterclass

Cliftons Sydney Margaret Street

Employment Law and Workplace Relations Masterclass
Wed Aug 21 2024 at 09:00 am Employment Law and Workplace Relations Masterclass

Sydney

Digital Assets & AI Investment Conference 2024
Wed Aug 21 2024 at 09:00 am Digital Assets & AI Investment Conference 2024

Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour

An Introduction to Mindfulness and Meditation 4-week Course \u2014 Penrith
Wed Aug 21 2024 at 06:30 pm An Introduction to Mindfulness and Meditation 4-week Course — Penrith

Jordan Springs Community Centre (Kookaburra Room)

La Trobe University Sydney Campus: Open Day
Thu Aug 22 2024 at 10:30 am La Trobe University Sydney Campus: Open Day

255 Elizabeth St

ThinkTank Australia 2024
Thu Aug 22 2024 at 11:00 am ThinkTank Australia 2024

3/181 Elizabeth St

RICS NSW Member Curry Night
Thu Aug 22 2024 at 06:00 pm RICS NSW Member Curry Night

Malabar

Sydney is Happening!

Never miss your favorite happenings again!

Explore Sydney Events