Three Sisters by Heather Morris is the harrowing but inspiring tale of Cibi, Magda and Livi, who grew up in Slovakia. Their father was wounded during World War I and, twelve years later, will undergo surgery to remove a bullet lodged in his neck. Before the procedure, he asks his three young daughters to make a promise to him and each other that they will "always be there for one another, no matter what. That you will not allow anything to take you away from each other." The next day he dies on the operating table, and their maternal grandfather, Yitzchak, moves into their small cottage to assist their mother, Chaya. Their uncle, Ivan, lives across the street with his family and provides support, as well.

Thirteen years later, in 1942, the girls begin to comprehend the importance and ramifications of the promise they made to their father. Rumors are rampant in their village that the Nazsi are forcing Jewish boys and girls sixteen years old and older to work for them. Seventeen-year-old Magda is ill so the doctor hospitalizes her in order for her to remain safe for the time being. Livi is fifteen and the eldest, Cibi, has gone away to a training program that provides young people the necessary skills to begin a new life in Palestine, but soon returns home to find that Livi has indeed been ordered to report to the synagogue. From there, she will be transported to an undisclosed location, allegedly to work for the Germans. Cibi assures her mother that she will accompany Livi. As their mother sobs in the doorway, the two girls bravely proceed to the synagogue where they, along with many others, are herded into a classroom. After a long night there, they are marched down the streets to the train station. As Cibi and Livi pass by, they are stunned to discover that "their former friends and neighbors are hurling rotten fruit and stale bread at their heads, yelling their joy that the Jews are finally living." They can't understand what has happened to the people who shopped in their mother's store and sought her counsel. It is only the beginning of the girls' long nightmare.

Morris details the girls' unimaginable experiences. They are forced into cattle wagons at the end of a train and transported to Auschwitz where "shaven-headed, hollow-cheeked men . . . swarm the train. In blue and white striped shirts and trousers, they move like rats fleeing a sinking ship as they clamber in to the wagons and begin to throw the girls' suitcases onto the platform." Their few belongings are confiscated and Cibi tells Livi, "We will eat stones, nails, and whatever we can get our hands on, but we must survive this place."

The girls quickly learn that they must keep working in order to survive, as rumors swirl of a bunker below ground where prisoners enter alive and are carried out dead. They watch vindictive guards kill prisoners who don't work fast or hard enough, or otherwise displease them, and are forced to carry the bodies of other girls back to Auschwitz at the end of a grueling day of work. Cibi watches over Livi as she grows thinner, and memories of home and family seem like just a dream.

Five months after their arrival, they are told they are being transferred to Birkenau, a camp for women. But a fellow prisoner warns them not to get into a truck. "You must walk -- understand?" The only way to stay alive is to show the Germans that they are strong and can keep working, no matter how horrendous the conditions. The SS make selections during the morning rollcall, marking those who appear sick or weak for extermination. Even as typhus sweeps through the camp, every girl knows that if she remains in her bunk in the morning, she will be dead by the time the other prisoners return that night. So when Cibi has a raging fever, the other prisoners half carry her to and from Auschwitz where they are assigned to work each day. Every time they pass through the gates, they must walk unaided past the guards., and they are forced to stand naked to be inspected for injuries or sores that will immediately consign them to death. They are given a brief reprieve on Christmas Day because the guards are celebrating. But Cibi refuses to offer any more nightly prayers, telling Livi, "No one is listening to us."

Meanwhile, Magda remains at home with Chaya and Yitzchak, hiding in a neighbor's house or the forest when the Nazis search the houses every Friday night. Magda questions the point of hiding, telling Chaya, "They will get me sooner or later, and maybe this way, I can join Cibi and Livi." But Chaya is determined not to let the Nazis take her remaining daughter, selling what few belongings she has left in order to buy food.

But eventually, of course, the Nazis are not satisfied to simply enslave the young. Uncle Ivan has learned they "are coming for all of us," as they remove every Jew from Slovakia. In 1944, they are forced from their home, and Magda is separated from Chaya and Yitzchak. She is first taken to Ilava prison, and then transported to Birkenau where, miraculously, she is reunited with her sisters. But not for long. Soon Cibi and Livi are transferred back to Auschwitz, leaving Magda despondent and abandoned.

By late 1944, planes are flying overhead and the girls hear missiles being dropped. They are given yet another miracle by Elisabeth Volkenrath, a beautiful young SS officer who oversees Cibi's work in the post office. She facilitates a second reunion of the three sisters.
But even as the war comes to an end, the sisters must survive a grueling death march with a multitude of other female prisoners in order to make their way to real freedom.

Morris, author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka's Journey, has penned another powerful account of perseverance and survival during a period of history that must never be forgotten. Morris writes in an appropriately straight-forward manner about a subject that needs no embellishment. As with those two prior books, Morris conducted extensive research to ensure accuracy. She was fortunate to meet with Livi and many members of the family, and credibly conveys their emotions. Key events are depicted in the book exactly as they happened, including the heartbreaking moment when Cibi begs a Nazi commander to spare the lives of their mother and grandfather. Chaya's last words to Cibi were, "Look after your sisters, my darling," as she was taken to her death.

A good portion of the book is devoted to the sisters' lives after World War II when they questioned the decisions they made during the war and wrestled with survivor's guilt, questioning whether they deserved to love and be happy again. Even though the war was over, the world was still not a welcoming place for Jews and when they returned to Slovakia they encountered "everyday acts[s] of racism." Morris details the fraught journey Magda and Livi make to a new home, "desperate to believe the memories which haunt them will magically disappear once they set foot in Israel." It is not that simple, of course, but they gradually learn to "embrace the future with an open heart" after enduring so much suffering.

Morris compellingly chronicles how the three sisters' promise became a part of them and, by living up to it, they saved themselves and each other. The Three Sisters is the remarkable story of three young women who refused to give in or give up, and thrived because of their steadfastness. They survived unspeakable atrocities so they could pass their stories from generation to generation. Livi told her growing children, "You are my victory. My family is my victory." Three Sisters is the lovingly-crafted documentation of that victory. -- a must-read for students of history.

I read the story of the Three Sisters because I had read and loved Morris’s previous books in the series, “The tattooist of Auschwitz “ and “Cilka’s Journey”.
Morris has an uncanny way of telling a story and making you feel like you are right there in the midst of everything that is going on. As soon as the story arrives at Auschwitz I feel like I am back to a familar place. Not because I have read so many other stories about Auschwitz, I have, but because Morris’s previous stories were so real to me that her writing just immediately transported me back to that place. tI read this book in a little over a day because I just could not put it down.
The story follows the lives of three sisters, Cibi, Magda and Livi living is Slovakia. Their father made them promise that they would always stay together. It was something they always abided by until one day the Hlinka guards arrive and announce that Livi’s name will be on the list of girls who are to be transported to work for the Germans. Magda at the time was in the hospital and Cibi has decided that Livi will not go alone. She will honour her fathers wishes and stay together with her sister. She will go with Livi.
The sisters are transported to Auschwitz and this is only the beginning of their story.
The story of the Three sisters is a retelling of actual events that the Meller sisters went through during the Holocaust. It is an emotional journey, one that needed to be told and shared with the world and I couldn’t think of a better person than Heather Morris to tell the story.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martins Press for the advanced copy.

5 stars! I thoroughly enjoyed Heather Morris’ newest novel. It’s one that I continue to think about thought I’ve finished reading it. For fans of World War II historical fiction, this is a must read.

Menachem Meller, a Jewish WWI vet with a bullet still lodged in his neck made his three daughters, Cibi, Magda & Livi promise him that they would take care of each other and not let anyone separate the three of them no matter what. Unfortunately, through circumstances out of their control they could not keep their promise to their beloved father.

This compelling novel focuses on family bonds, strength and hope even in the worst of circumstances.

I received an advance digital review copy of this book all opinions are my own.

Three Sisters is the third book from Heather Morris focusing on the same time period and acquaintance group of prisons at Auschwitz-Birkenau during World War II. While there are three books that are linked, each one is a standalone novel. The first was The Tattooist of Auschwitz and the second was Cilka's Journey. In this third release, Three Sisters; we meet Cibi, Magda, and Livi. The sisters range in age from 20's, to teens, and the youngest being still a child. Each sister has their own story of how they come to end up in the camp, but they reunite and endure the horrors there together.

While this is technically fiction, it is a fictionalized account of actual events and people. There really are three sisters, of the same name, and they really dis experience much of what occurs in the book. Morris creates her books based off of survivor's and their family's oral histories of the time. I am a huge fan of Heather Morris and meeting all her characters and hearing what they experienced. However, this was my least favorite of her other books. I am not sure if it was the people or her writing, but so much of what the characters did felt calculated, which feels out of character for people living in dangerous and uncertain times.

Three Sisters by Heather Morris is the third in the Tattooist of Auschwitz series. It follows three Slovakian sisters, Livia, Magda, and Cibi, and is based on a true story. The sisters made a promise to their father to always stay together and take care of one another. The girls have to live through WWII and the holocaust, they are taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau. This is a deep book that takes on a very heavy topic but does it in a beautiful way. You will for sure want to have plenty of tissues handy when reading this book you will not want to miss.

2.5 stars

A wartime novel focused on the love and bond between sisters.

Based on true events, sisters Cibi, Magda and Livi share a promise to their father that they will always look out for one another. This promise carries them through several harrowing years living as Jewish prisoners at Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps.

One theme that stuck with me throughout this novel was how people suffered with ‘survivors guilt’. 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. The author did an excellent job pushing this topic forward and showing the reader how endless and life consuming this guilt can be.

This was one of my most highly anticipated novels of the year as I loved Books 1 and 2 in this series. Unfortunately this lacklustre ending to the series didn’t live up to my hopes and expectations.

My main issue was the main characters — the three sisters were extremely childish and “cutesy”. They didn’t feel real. I couldn’t take their conversations seriously as their immaturity and babyish behaviour and dialogue took away from the harrowing storyline, the true grit and the heaviness of the times. For this reason, this entire story lacked the emotional pull that I have come to expect from this series. I simply wasn’t invested in the characters so my heart wasn’t in it. I can understand how wonderful it would have been for the author to be interviewing these sisters and putting their story to paper, but this simply didn’t resonate with me in any way.

Another issue for me was that this book lacked anything new. I love reading historical fiction so that I can learn about pieces of our history through fictional, entertaining characters. While the author did a good job telling the true story of these sisters, it failed to offer a fresh perspective on this time in our history. These characters brought nothing new to the over-saturated genre and the repetitive feel made the book drag.

Overall, this was barely an “ok” read for me. Many readers will love this for being a heartwarming, lighter wartime read. I feel that readers who have followed along in this trilogy will find this last book less intense and impactful. It was more of a cute, feel-good story than a powerful, emotional one. It failed to offer anything new and felt drawn out and repetitive. I strongly recommend reading Book 1 & 2 in this series and then adjusting your expectations for this one as it’s a completely different kind of read.

Thank you to St Martins Press for my review copy!

“I want you to make a promise to me and to each other that you will always take care of your sisters. That you will always be there for one another, no matter what. That you will not allow anything to take you away from each other…three of you are stronger together…”

This book, based on the true story of three sisters, Cibi, Magda, and Livi, and their unbreakable bond to always be there for each other, will leave you in awe of their lives. Author Heather Morris spent time with two of the sisters and the family and demonstrates great respect in sharing their stories with the world. She takes readers on their journey from a childhood promise to the unspeakable horrors and losses they survived in Auschwitz/Birkenau, to the war aftermath and all the way through to their new life in the promised land.

Although fiction, many scenes play out as they actually occurred. There is a great deal of pain, and each sister carries their own feelings guilt, fear, and sadness throughout their lives. But they are always strengthened by their bond…it is what propels them forward and helps them survive. The author does a good job of not only showing the lack of humanity by friends and neighbors, but also the small acts of kindness and compassion, like buds of hope in a dark world. In doing so, the reader also finds hope in humanity.

One particularly meaningful bit of imagery is when Magda finds a flowering sword lily: “They are a genus of the gladiolus family…it means strength of character….It means never giving up. And it is part of the Iris family, which signifies hope….Strength and hope….These are the finest qualities a person can have.” Strength and hope sums up the sisters and how they survive.

While the true story is compelling, I struggled to continue with reading and needed to put it down and come back to it. At first I thought it was because of the war horrors. But the first half had me enthralled. it was really the second half of the book, mostly part 3, that I struggled with. The pace was much different from the first half and often the dialog was almost forced to get through the story. It felt like a different book. I would probably rate the book a 3 because of this since I just wanted to finish and move on. But then I was completely engaged again and overwhelmed with the ending…the epilogue, authors note, and afterwords by family members. These brought me back to grounding in the story, and incredible respect for the sisters and their life stories. Thank you Heather Morris for writing their powerful story.

“Part of their routine, an unspoken part, is to ask themselves, every day, is today our last day on this earth?….We survived another day”

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

Books enter your life at the right time so it's fitting that 'Three Sisters' is my first book of 2022. Ending a tumultuous year, the novel reminds readers to embrace the future and feel grateful for our friends and family. Based on a true story, Heather Morris pens the hope and strength of Cibi, Magda and Livia as they honor the promise they made their father to always look out for each other.

I've been a fan of the author since reading the 'Tattooist of Auschwitz' and started reading the novel before its publication in October 2021. I love historical fiction as while often difficult to read due to the subject matter, depicts protagonists overcoming obstacles and embracing life in spite of the tragedies they faced.

While I eagerly awaited reading #ThreeSisters I wasn't in the right mindset to fully appreciate the novel. I put it aside and picked it up again at the end of the year. I cheered, cried and cringed along with the characters marveling at their display of the strength under such devastating conditions.

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read Morris' heartfelt novel in exchange for an honest review. Sharing the sisters' stories afforded a glimpse into the horrors they faced while honoring their bond that wouldn't allow circumstances to break them.

I don't know how Heather Morris does it. My heart has been shredded only to be put back together piece by piece. Three Sisters by Heather Morris is a story that captures the true horror, resilience, and love of Cibi, Magda, and Livi's life within the Nazi concentration camps and the hope they hold for their lives after they escape. Through it all, they fall back on the promise they made to their father to alway stay together and no matter what, they always do. 4.7 beautiful, bright stars for Three Sisters. Highly recommend.

A beautiful, emotional, stunning book. This is the third in the series but they work as standalones. This is a story of courage and tenacity in the face of extreme adversity. This story of sisters walked the fine line between heartbreaking and hopeful in a very respectful way. The atrocities of this time period never cease to amaze me and the author captured it perfectly. 5⭐️

I have enjoyed all of Heather Morris’s novels in the Tattooist of Auschwitz series, and Three Sisters is just as good as book #3. You can read this as a stand alone, so don’t feel like you have to read the other two, although I encourage you to do so, they are beautifully written.

The storyline is built, as the first two are, on a true story basis, of three sisters, and it is breathtakingly beautiful and heart wrenching.

I think it is equally beautiful that Heather Morris was able to speak personally with Livia and Cibi about their experiences in the death camp, Auschwitz.

The three sisters promised their father to stay together and protect each other, and as Livia is sent to the camp, Cibi decides to go along and then Magda is captured not long afterwards. Once they reunite at the camp, the story of them working to stay together, stay alive, and follow their promise is just heart wrenching and beautifully done.

If you enjoyed Morris’s other novels, and historical fiction based in WW2, I highly encourage you to read this one as well.

Thank you to @stmartinspress for my #gifted copy in exchange for my honest review!

Having grown up longing for a sister, stories of the bond and love of sisters draw me in and help me imagine what a blessing that is. Not only did I love Heather Morris’s previous books (The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka’s Journey), I would have snapped this book up based on the title alone.
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Before he died, three little girls made a promise to their father to look out for one another. Cibi, Magda, and Livia keep that promise through the Hell of Auschwitz, the Death March, Communist rule, and establishing their lives after that. Their bond, their love, helped them survive.
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This book is fiction, based on the lives of three very real young Slovakian girls. Two of these girls live in Israel today and chose Morris to reimagine their story for her novel. Thus, it is very well researched and quite impactful, but it is still fiction, so the author took some liberties. In doing so she wrote a wonderful story.
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Somehow, Heather Morris can take stories from the atrocities of the prison camps and still let love and hope shine through. The courage and determination to survive in her characters makes me turn the pages, wanting to see how they handle the worst the world can throw at them.
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The Tatooist and Cilka make brief appearances and I loved that, it was like seeing an old friend. If you have read the two previous books, you will enjoy this one too. If you haven’t read the other two, you can still read this and not feel as if you are missing anything. It is a separate and unique story.
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Three Sisters is a heart-wrenching journey of sisters through the Holocaust. Having two sisters myself, I couldn’t help but think about what our journey would have looked like. I thought the story showed that everyone suffered during the Holocaust, not just the people that survived concentration camps. I couldn’t believe that one of the sisters willingly ran to her sisters in the concentration camp. I am looking forward to Heather Morris’s next book!

Thank you to Heather Morris, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is definitely going down as one of my favorite books of the year. I see that it is actually book 3 in a series - including The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cika’s Journey. I will definitely be going back and reading the first two books.

This is based on the true story of Cibi, Magda and Livi - the three sisters. When they are young they make a promise to their father to always take care of each other. They had no idea how much they would fall back on that promise.

The story of how and what the sisters went through to survive being sent to Nazi concentrations camps is both horrifying and inspiring. The strength that they had to pull from to survive, is astounding.

The author was actually able to meet with 2 of the sisters.

I can’t even really describe this book, I wouldn’t be able to do it justice. You just have to read the story of these remarkable sisters.

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book! I will be posting my review on social media, to include Instagram, Amazon, Goodreads, and Instagram!

I always feel awful when I don't love a historical fiction written about real life people. It almost feels like I should, however sometimes the writing just doesn't work for you and that is the case here. I found it hard to connect and sympathy with the characters due to the dialogue and that overshadowed the importance of the sisters' stories.

Another amazing story by Heather Morris, I started with Lale and Gita's story and continue with Cilka and now the story of the three sisters that blew my mind.

I really didn't know what to respect after the first two books but this series really was magnificent, the story of the three sisters was amazing, just when I thought I read it all here comes these beautiful ladies to tell us the story of their lives, a life that wasn't easy for any of them but fought so hard to get what they always wanted and dream about.

Cibi, Livy, and Magda are three heroines who fought hard to survive the worst concentration camps Auschwitz.-Birkeanue. Cibi and Livy were taken from their home with promises that they had to help the germans to work, but they didn't know where exactly where was this place they had to help, Livy was just a child and supposedly she wasn't going to be taken but the germans had another agenda and the rules changed so fast making Livy no longer except to their terrible wishes.

Magda was secure for now, hiding without knowing her sisters were leaving soon to this terrible place, but soon things will change again and the whole family will have to change their plans in other to survive.

Three sisters, the true story of three sisters who survive the terrible conditions of Auschwitz-Birkenau, cold, hard work, starvation, sickness, and very unhealthy condition was normal in these camps, they were just kids who had to grow up faster giving up their childhood and a normal way of living because of the evilness Hitler and the SS were spreading all around.

I can't stop thinking about this book, especially after reading the afterword of many of the sons, daughters, and even grandsons of these amazing women.

A promise they made when they were just kids to stick together to stay together always no matter what, a promise Cibi was so eager and so strong to make come true. she fought hard at all times to keep the three sisters together even when they were always outside forces or people trying in one way or another to break them apart. but Cibi was always very smart and was able to make "good friends" that eventually will help them survive and keep this promise alive.

Livy was very young but it always amazed me how strong she was, she saw many things a kid shouldn't have seen, and even after all that she was able to help and continue surviving with the help of his sisters and many around her that supported her and love her.

Magda was always strong and never took anything or anyone for granted, she always felt guilty that she wasn't with her sister the first few years of the concentration camps but fought hard and made everything in her power to recuperate those years and made everything she could to help her sisters and others. three magnificent women that ill remember always.

Just when I thought the first two books of the series were really hard to read, three sisters was even harder. we're talking about children in here many of them being robbed of their childhood and families without any explanation, forcing them to grow faster and work in jobs they were not strong enough mentally and physically for this.

I don't like rating real-life books, it is the experience, the life they went through and it is something we must applaud. Great book, Great story about love, faith, and strength about the bond of a family during the worst periods of time.

Thank you to Heather Morris for this amazing story, Thank you to Kari, Yossi, Chaya, Ditti, Odie, and Dorit for sharing your family's story. Thank you to Cibi, Livy, and Magda for sharing your courageous life with us.

Cibi, Magda and Livi are strong women with a stronger bond. The author does a fantastic job showing the strength of their bond and love through such a horrendous time. The focus is on the sisters' bond rather than the brutal details of what they had to survive in the camps.

The books in the series can be read as standalones but I do recommend them all. They're powerful, emotional, and well written.

T=I have read all the books in this story line. This was the one that like the least. While I did like the story line of how the war affected entire families the story of the girls in the camp was a little too clean. In the other books the stories of the camps and life in the camps was a little more telling and less sugar coated. This book had more of a fictional story line.

It must be very difficult to write an uplifting story of strength, resilience, love and family commitment from such an ugly time and backstory, yet Heather Morris does just that. Based on a true story, Three Sisters is no less tragic than any other Holocaust story, but the focus is on survival and love. Being a historical fiction fan I’ve read many books about the Holocaust, a couple from this particular author and I am always equally horrified. A normal person can never be comfortable reading and understanding such brutality was ever delivered from a human towards any living being let alone another human; it’s beyond comprehension. Thankfully talented writers like Ms Morris are able to bring these stories to us so this savagely barbaric timeframe is never forgotten or repeated. The thing that mystifies me is how any human body can endure and survive such mistreatment, starvation and brutality. It speaks volumes to the will of the human spirit to survive. Cibi, Magda and Livi are no less than extraordinary and I’m so glad I got to take their journey with them. Miss Morris does an exceptional job of bringing their story to life. I enjoyed reading at the end how the author came to discover their story and decided to share it with the world. Many thanks to the sisters themselves, their children and grandchildren who contacted the author and decided to share the story.