Stories of Hope - Heather Morris
About the book
The Tattooist of Auschwitz is one of the bestselling books of the 21st Century. Now, in this essential companion, Heather Morris presents an inspiring manual for life, with a series of tales of the remarkable people she has met, the incredible stories they have shared with her, and the lessons they hold for us all.
In Stories of Hope, Heather will explore her extraordinary talents as a listener - a skill she employed when she first met Lale Sokolov, the tattooist at Auschwitz - Birkenau and the inspiration for her bestselling novel. It was this ability that led Lale to entrust Heather with his story, which she told in her novel The Tattooist of Auschwitz and the bestselling follow up, Cilka's Journey.
Now Heather shares the story behind her inspirational writing journey and the defining experiences of her life, including her profound friendship with Lale, and explores how she learned to really listen to the stories people told her - skills she believes we can all learn.
About the author
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. Heather used Lale's story as the basis for The Tattooist of Auschwitz, which has sold six million copies. Her follow-up novel, Cilka's Journey, has sold more than a million copies worldwide
Discover more about the book and author
Listen to this Love Your Library podcast with Heather Morris.
Watch this video to see Heather Morris read from Stories of Hope.
Listen to Heather Morris give a life lesson on Hope and The Importance of Listening.
Our Librarian’s Review
Reviewed by Anna
Fans of Heather Morris’s bestselling novels, The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka’s Story, will likely be fascinated to read how the author researched these fictionalised re-tellings of harrowing real-life experience, relying heavily on in-person interviews with the protagonists or those who knew them. Tattooist emerged from three years of conversation with holocaust survivor Lale Sokolov, and required Morris to draw on listening and trust-building skills acquired through long experience of interacting with patients in the Australian health service.
Active listening skills, and how they can be applied in different circumstances and relationships, are itemised at intervals throughout Stories of Hope, making the book in part a how-to guide to listening.
The combination of background interest stories with self-help elements sometimes makes for frustrating reading as in places information is repeated unnecessarily. However, Morris’s generosity and sincerity as a person and a writer shine through at all times. Anyone interested in honing their communication skills in order to offer a friend, family member or stranger the gift of listening should find useful advice in this accessible volume.