The Tattooist of Auschwitz

‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz has the quality of a dark fairytale. It is both simple and epic, shot through with compassion and love, but inescapably under the shadow of the most devouring monsters our civilisation has known. Everyone should read it.’

Hugh Riminton – journalist, foreign correspondent, TV newsreader, and author of Minefields

‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz is an extraordinary document, coming more than seventy years after the events it describes, and reminding us how many stories will forever remain untold. It reminds us that every one of the unimaginably large number of Holocaust victims was an individual with a unique story… And this story is an extraordinary one, even by the standards of Holocaust stories – by turns moving, confronting and uplifting and, of course, a window on one of the most horrific events in human history. Heather Morris tells Lale’s story with dignity and restraint, never letting her own voice intrude, nor letting the love story overwhelm the greater context of displacement, trauma and survival. This is a story about the extremes of human behaviour existing side by side: calculated brutality alongside impulsive and selfless acts of love. I find it hard to imagine anyone who would not be drawn in, confronted and moved. I would recommend it unreservedly to anyone, whether they’d read a hundred Holocaust stories or none.’

Graeme Simsion – author of The Rosie Project, The Rosie Effect, The Best of Adam Sharp, Two Steps Forward

‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a profoundly moving, immense story of loss and courage, exploring the depths of the human heart. Written in unflinchingly spare prose, it will make you cry tears of both outrage and wonder. Morris climbs into the dark miasma of war and emerges with an extraordinary tale of the power of love.’

Leah Kaminsky – author of The Waiting Room

‘An extraordinary story of a single and singular life and its great love. Heather Morris carefully recreates one man’s journey through one of the world’s worst times and places, as moments of sheer will, ferocious tenacity – even luck and serendipity – transform a miracle from the preserve of hope and daydream into a long and cherished life. Her Lale speaks to one of Viktor Frankl’s clarion ideas: “that the salvation of Man is through love and in love.”’

Ashley Hay – author of A Hundred Small Lessons, The Railwayman’s Wife, and Body in the Clouds

‘An eloquent and touching account of a truly remarkable story that simply had to be told. An intricate and sensitive portrayal of a brave, tenacious, determined yet caring, romantic, generous, and simply beautiful soul, against a despair-filled, catastrophic environment with scenarios too harsh to even imagine. The story of Gita and Lale’s steadfast and enduring love for each other in one of the most inhumane circumstances known to mankind, alongside the cruel reality of the “choiceless choices” that certain individuals were forced into during those harsh and evil times creates a dramatically vivid picture which captivates, inspires and enriches. A must read.’

Cedric Geffen – Co-President, March of the Living Australia

‘A powerful and redeeming love story set against a horrific background of unimaginable hate.’

Pamela Wallace – screenwriter for film and TV, Oscar-winner for Witness