Sisters Under the Rising Sun

Have you read anything from Heather Morris previously? If so, did that shape your expectations of this story? Were your expectations met, surpassed, or disappointed?

What were the most emotional points of the story for you? Were there any parts of the novel that were difficult for you to read?

Do you think that in ordinary circumstances Norah and Nesta would have forged the same bond as they did in the POW camp? How do you imagine their relationship, if they had never experienced the horrors of war?

How did you feel when the 4 nurses finally volunteered to bring “comfort” to the Japanese soldiers?

Together Nora and John decided to send their eight year old daughter with Nora’s oldest sister and her two sons to find safety far away from Singapore. Do you think this was the right decision? Would you have made the same choice? Why or why not?

Norah Chambers is an English musician and Missionary Margaret Dryburgh was her partner in creating this choir/orchestra along with the many other creative groups that Margaret started while the women were in captivity. How did the theme of music play in this novel? What is the relationship between music and survival?

The author’s note, afterword, and the images at the end of the book include details about the real life women who survived both the sinking of the Vyner Brooke and the Japanese POW camp. Take a few moments to review the following quote on p. 367 in the regular print copy: “The morale of the women at the time of their liberation was much higher than that of the men in their camps. Perhaps the women were more adaptable or had greater inner resources than the men, because they seemed to withstand the rigors of imprisonment more stoically.” What is your reaction to this quote from Major Jacobs?