Sisters Under the Rising Sun

Author: Heather Morris
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2023
Pages: 400
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: In the midst of World War II, an English musician, Norah Chambers, places her eight-year-old daughter Sally on a ship leaving Singapore, desperate to keep her safe from the Japanese army as they move down through the Pacific. Norah remains to care for her husband and elderly parents, knowing she may never see her child again.

Sister Nesta James, a Welsh Australian nurse, has enlisted to tend to Allied troops. But as Singapore falls to the Japanese she joins the terrified cargo of people, including the heartbroken Norah, crammed aboard the Vyner Brooks merchant ship. Only two days later, they are bombarded from the air off the coast of Indonesia, and in a matter of hours, the Vyner Brooks lies broken on the seabed. 

After surviving a brutal 24 hours in the sea, Nesta and Norah reach the beaches of a remote island, only to be captured by the Japanese and held in one of their notorious POW camps. The camps are places of starvation and brutality, where disease runs rampant. Sisters in arms, Norah and Nesta fight side-by-side every day, helping whoever they can, and discovering in themselves and each other extraordinary reserves of courage, resourcefulness, and determination.

Review: This is heavier subject matter than I would typically choose at this time of year, but I liked the cover 😀 

I had a difficult time initially, getting into Sisters Under the Rising Sun. There's a big cast of characters, and the writing was choppy until the author found her groove. However, I rather quickly found myself enthralled.

Based on real people and actual events, this novel dives a side of World War II that I didn't know anything about it. I also appreciated that the author included information about her search, notes from the internees' families, and some information about the main characters post-internment / post-WWII.