Three Sisters: A Novel by Heather Morris
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Web ID: 149665103rs book in this amazing series
Heather Morris did it again with " Three Sisters". Such a great read. Being a mother I struggled a little more thru this one. This book gave me tears and all the "feels". I love that at the end it included photos and writings from the real sisters the book is based on. My favorite quote from the book was "Something about life being long if you savor every moment". Such a powerful quote!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A Promise is a Promise
I am not sure there are any words to describe this wonderful book. Only the knowledge that this story is true and that three sisters could live to tell their story through the chaos, fear, devastation and heartbreak of not only themselves but so many, many others, is a testament to their resilience and love for each other. A promise is a promise and I am glad that Cibi, Magda and Livia lived to keep their promise. I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley, St.Martins Press and the author, Helen Morris. The above comments and review are my own opinion.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A Harrowing Story I Can’t Believe Happened
Reading a Holocaust book is always a tough read, but seeing what the three sisters endured added a whole other layer, on top of the fact that this is based on a true story. These sisters really did lose their mother and grandfather and had to deal with Auschwitz, the death marches, and antisemitism. Cibi, Magda and Livia fight to keep the promise that they made to their father to always be together and help one another no matter what. This is a promise that is increasingly hard to keep as the sisters are separated time and time again as the war rages on and then ends with the whole continent being turned upside down. From death camps to adjusting to freedom in a new country, the sisters each have their own unique stories and experiences, which really adds to the charm and heartbreak of this novel. As with any WWII Holocaust story I wish this wouldn’t have ever happened to begin with. I think the author did a phenomenal job of keeping the integrity of the sister’s story. My favorite part was the afterwards at the end of the novel that share notes from those that lived this story, the sisters themselves. There were so many moments that I was reading that I was trying to wrap my mind around the fact that this was based on a true story, but reading these notes really brought it all home. So many didn’t live to tell their stories, but I am so thankful that Cibi, Magda and Livia made it through and lived to tell the tale. *I have voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book which I received from the publisher through NetGalley. All views and opinions expressed are completely honest, and my own.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Inspirational!
Three Sisters was the third book by Heather Morris that I had the opportunity to read. It was not my favorite of her books but I appreciated that Heather Morris was able to share the sister’s story with her readers. These stories must continue to be handed down and talked about through future generations so that a Holocaust can never happen again. As in her two previous novels, Heather Morris was able to convey and portray through dialogue and acts the love, anguish, terror, regrets, bravery, courage, determination and resilience all three sisters experienced during the Nazi occupation and their time in Auschwitz/Birkenau. I listened to the audiobook that was brilliantly narrated by Finty Williams. She was able to give distinction between the various characters. Cibi, Magda and Livia grew up in a loving home in Vranov, Slovakia. The three sisters lived with their mother, father and grandfather. All was well with the girls until the Nazis arrived. Their father asked all three of his daughters when they were still young girls to promise him that they would always stay together and look out for one another. The sisters never allowed themselves to forget that promise they made to their father. When the Nazis ordered Livia, the youngest of the three sisters, to report to the synagogue to work for the Germans, Cibi, the eldest of the three sisters, would not allow Livia to go by herself. It was ten years since the sisters made that promise to their father, but not one of them forgot about it. Cibi was 19 years old in 1942. She would not let Livia go by herself. Cibi insisted that she would accompany Livia and watch out for her. Neither sister could have ever imagined what the German’s intentions were on that fateful day. It was Livia’s and Cibi’s fate that they were brought to Auschwitz by cattle car. Their middle sister, Magda would be spared that fate for now. Magda had been sick and was in the hospital recuperating when the Nazis were making their selections for deportation. For two years after Cibi and Livia were taken to Auschwitz, Magda remained at home but felt remorse and guilt that she was at home and her sisters had been taken away. In 1944, two years after Cibi and Livia had been taken to Auschwitz, Magda, her mother and grandfather were transported to Auschwitz as well. The sisters faced starvation. They were forced to perform strenuous and senseless hard labor each and every day no matter how hot or cold it was outside. The daily brutalities that the evil and hateful guards showed the prisoners were more than anyone should be made to endure. They saw death all around them each day. The sisters helped each other to survive.Then as the war started to go in favor of the Allies, the Nazis made the prisoners of Auschwitz/Birkenau go on a death march. The sisters were lucky enough to escape and hide in the forest for many days until they were finally rescued. When the three sisters made their way back to their childhood home they were disillusioned and disgusted to find someone else living in their home. They discovered that the attitudes of the Slovs toward Jews had not changed much since the end of the war. Even though the war was over and the sisters had suffered unmercifully in the camp, beyond anyone’s comprehension, anti Semitic feelings about the Jews were still present. Cibi, Magda and Livia decided that Israel would become their new home. Once in Israel, it was still hard to lose the memories of what they had endured in Auschwitz. All three sisters found it impossible to eradicate all that they had witnessed and lived through from their thoughts, dreams and daily lives. The ghosts of their past were always present along with some secrets. Could the sisters ever find that carefree and happy life they each sought? Three Sisters by Heather Morris was inspired by real events. Cibi’s son contacted Heather Morris after reading The Tattooist of Auschwitz to ask her if she would tell her mother’s and aunt’s stories. Heather Morris interviewed and spent quality time with many members of the sister’s family and with each sister so that their story could be told in its entirety. Within the pages of Three Sisters, there were also references to Lale, Gita and Cilka. This powerful and insightful novel was the last in the trilogy. It was commendable that Heather Morris was able to relate all these stories in her three novels. Three Sisters was an exploration of courage, a reminder of how important family is and the continued efforts to keep a most important promise made so long ago.I highly recommend this book. Thank you to Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen this advanced audiobook through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Three Sisters will be available on October 5th.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
incredible job
What a beautiful story that showed us the very best of humanity in the very worst of circumstances. Heather Morris took 2 years to research and write a story about the lives of Cibi, Magda and Livi Meller and how one such promise to their late father turned it into a story about love, courage and the struggle to survive amidst the horrors of Auschwitz concentration camp. This is a powerful story that needed to be told and Heather Morris did an incredible job. I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A re-telling of survival
Heather Morris worked with the family of three sisters (Cibi, Magda, and Livi) to retell the story of the sisters’ survival. The book begins with the young sisters making a promise to their father to always stay together. It was that promise that saved their lives, and got them through their darkest days. The journey each sister takes is interesting and heartbreaking. I found myself in awe of their resiliency and tenacity. While there’s a great deal of suffering depicted in the story, it’s not as hard core as other Holocaust stories I’ve read, which makes it more appealing to me. I haven’t been able to make it through those types of books. I learned a great deal by viewing the years through the sisters’ eyes and appreciate the willingness for the characters to share their stories with Morris. I really enjoyed reading through the many Afterward pieces from the family members of the sisters; and as Morris writes about life after Auschwitz, I found myself thinking about things I hadn’t before (survivor guilt, continued racism, etc.). This series is one of my favorite pieces of historical fiction and I look forward to reading what’s next from Morris. Two of my favorite quotes: “How many stories like these do survivors have to endure?” “That we shouldn’t look at each day as a series of tasks we have to get through, but to see each twenty-four hours as a gift from God and cherish individual moments.”
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Great book
Historical Fiction is not my normal genre, but I have to say I really enjoyed this book. It was sad to read how they survived, but it was also interesting. It was horrible how they were treated and what they made them do. I would definitely recommend this book.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A Phenomenal Book
Three Sisters is an amazing novel— poignant while somehow inspiring hope (which sounds like an oxymoron, I know). After loving her The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka’s Journey, I had high expectations for Three Sisters, and I have to confess that Heather Morris totally demolished those expectations. Cibi, Magda, and Livia promise their father, shortly before his early death, to always stay together. When Livia is sent by the Nazis to Auschwitz, Cibi goes with her to protect her or die with her in order to fulfill that promise. Magda is ill at the time and is protected by a Christian doctor who has her hospitalized to avoid the Nazis’ rounding up of teenaged children. Magda is released from the hospital and lives at home with their mother and grandfather for two years in the ever increasing Nazi atrocities before they, too, are transported to Auschwitz. The novel describes the horrors these sisters and other concentration camp prisoners faced, and it is absolutely heart wrenching. However, Morris doesn’t just end the book when the sisters survive the camps and death marches and return to Slovakia. Instead, she continues their story as these three amazingly brave and strong sisters pursue full and happy lives full of love and family in Israel. This book had me in absolute tears at many points; however, the end of the book left with me hope and amazement. Morris does such an artful job of telling the three sisters’ story, and it is authors like her that are crucial to telling these painful and difficult stories so that these atrocities are never forgotten and never again repeated.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com