In the midst of WWII, 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 Brooke 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 Brooke 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. This novel is based on a true story.
'One of the books of the decade' - Richard Madeley
The phenomenal new novel, based on a true story, from the multimillion-copy bestselling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Cilka's Journey and Three Sisters
Singapore is burning. It is February 1942, and the Vyner Brooke is sailing out of the harbour and to safety. On deck is an English musician, Norah Chambers, who gazes over the besieged city as the beautiful voices of the Australian nurses on board sing 'Waltzing Matilda'.
One of these nurses is Nesta James, a pint-sized rocket of a woman, who quells her fears by caring for the frightened people on board.
But danger lies ahead. When Nesta and Norah meet at a female prisoner-of-war camp they must find strength and resilience they never knew they had. Can they work together to survive against all odds, and find hope in the darkest of days?
Sisters under the Rising Sun tells the inspiring true story of women at war and of the friendship and sisterhood that changed the generation that came after them.
About the Author: Born in New Zealand, Heather Morris 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. Lale's story formed the basis for The Tattooist of Auschwitz and the follow-up novel, Cilka's Journey. In 2021 she published the phenomenal conclusion to the Tattooist trilogy, Three Sisters, after being asked to tell the story of three Holocaust survivors who knew Lale from their time in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Together, her novels have sold more than 16 million copies worldwide. Her exceptional new novel, Sisters Under the Rising Sun, was published in 2023 bringing another heart-wrenching true story to life with experiences of women in Japanese POW camps, how they found bravery in sisterhood and the hope to survive in music.
We will despatch your order as quickly as we can. If, for whatever reason, a product is out of stock we will contact you to discuss the likely delivery time or an alternative product.
First Item
2 Items & Over
UK
£3.75
£5.00
EU
£15.00
£30.00
USA & Canada
£30.00
£50.00
Rest of the World
£45.00
£60.00
Collect in Store
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Additional Delivery Information (and some really important bits):
UK Delivery
Orders for delivery in the UK are normally despatched by Royal Mail, using the RM 48 Tracked Service with most orders delivered to you within a few days of placing your order with us. For larger parcels, Courier and Signed For delivery services may be used. Signed Books are shipped in our specially made book mailing cartons, with the books themselves wrapped in paper to protect them. Sometimes we may ship your order in several parts, particularly if you have 'Pre-Order' titles in your order or titles which are held in stock with our publishing partners.
The Really Important Bit: Because we use tracked, courier and signed for delivery services, please use an address at which your parcel can be received during the normal working day, for example, you may want to have your order delivered to your work address if you're not at home during the day.
First Item @ £3.75 (sometimes a shipping supplement may be added for particularly heavy books or specific postcodes*) 2 Items & over @ £5.00 in total
Another Really Important Bit: There are a number of Postcodes in the UK for which we will need to charge a shipping supplement, this will be calculated once we know the size and weight of the shipment. For these orders we will contact customers to agree a suitable and economic method of shipping. There may also be additional time required for delivery to some areas of the United Kingdom. Where possible, we will ship book orders (under 2kg) by Royal Mail to all UK postcodes. Large multiple book orders and books over 2kg are often shipped via APC Overnight or similar, regardless of Postcode.
Overseas Delivery
Shipments to EU countries:
First Item @ £15.00 (sometimes a shipping supplement will be added for particularly heavy books) 2 Items & over @ £30.00 in total
A really, really important Brexit bit: From 1st January 2021 shipments to EU addresses may incur additional costs which could be requested by Fed Ex at the time of delivery. These costs may vary from country to country and are not within our control and will be in addition to the costs paid to us for your delivery. If in any doubt, please check with your local Fed Ex office what, if any, additional costs will be applicable to your order - https://www.fedex.com From 1st July 2021, VAT will be applicable to those EU countries where VAT is applied to books - this additional charge will be collected by Fed Ex (or the Royal Mail) at the time of delivery.
Shipments to the USA & Canada:
First Item @ £30.00 2 Items & over @ £50.00 in total
Shipments to the Rest of the World:
First Item @ £45.00 2 Items & over @ £60.00 in total
All overseas orders are shipped using a 'signed for' courier service - please provide an address at which your parcel can be signed for on receipt. We use the same packaging materials for our overseas deliveries as we do those in the UK. In some cases, particularly large and heavy books, or books being shipped to remote areas, may incur an additional shipping charge - if this is the case with your order, we'll notify you as quickly as possible of these charges and to arrange the additional payment. You can of course cancel your order with an immediate refund should you not wish to accept these additional costs. Shipments to overseas territories may incur additional Duty & Tax costs which could be requested by Fed Ex at the time of delivery. These costs may vary from country to country and are not within our control and will be in addition to the costs paid to us for your delivery. If in any doubt, please check with your local Fed Ex office what, if any, additional Tax & Duty costs will be applicable to your order - https://www.fedex.com
Collect in Person at Coles Books
We're open Monday - Saturday, 9:00am - 5:30pm. If you're collecting your order, please wait until you get the text, phone call or email from us, just to be on the safe side and to ensure we have your order ready for you on arrival (we'll use the contact information provided during checkout). Not everything on our website is available for immediate collection, please do wait for the text, call or email - if time is of the essence, we'd suggest you call us on 01869 320779 and check availability prior to placing your order. You can pick up your order from the till, please bring a copy of your email receipt (electronic or printed is fine).
Coming by Car
If you're coming to Coles by car, why not take advantage of the 2 hours free parking at Sainsbury's Pioneer Square - just follow the signs for Pioneer Square as you drive into Bicester and park in the multi-storey car park above the supermarket. Come down the travelators, exit Sainsbury's, turn right and follow the pedestrianised walkway to Crown Walk and turn right - and Coles will be right in front of you. You don't need to shop in Sainsbury's to get the free parking!
Where to Find Us
Coles Books 22 Crown Walk Pioneer Square Bicester, Oxfordshire OX26 6HY, United Kingdom
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