Stories of Hope: From the bestselling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz

Reviews

jemma

As always, I found Heather’s writing so engaging and sensitive; it was simultaneously beautiful and heartbreaking, but of course, with that overwhelming sense of hope which permeates her work, reminding us to always look for that glimmer of hope no matter how bleak the situation is. She covers the importance of listening to ourselves and what matters to us while being mindful of the cost of listening. It can take a lot out a person to be the rock on which others rely and it is extremely necessary to take time for our own mental health in order to stay safe within ourselves but also to be able to continue being that rock for others.

Kristel Greer

As such, the book provides practical advice on how to listen to others - particularly older people, whom the author calls “living history”. That being said, it was an intriguing and very honest read that gave me a lot to think about and a new way to look at my interactions and conversations with others. The only reason it wasn’t 5 stars was I felt it was a little repetitive at times and seemed to reference or include similar information within each chapter.

This is book is about listening and the benefits of listening to hear a story rather than listening to form a reply. I think this is very important in the current world we live. I liked how the author interwove personal stories from her life to showcase the need for listening to others properly and also our inner voice.

The book covers methods for listening to children and how best to communicate with them. Each section also provided a recap and tips to cover that sections' topic which I liked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. Usefully, at the end of the chapters there is a list bullet-pointing tips on the topics talked about in each chapter, such as effective listening but also self-care after being the listener to disturbing stories. I was sent a copy of Stories of Hope by Heather Morris for review.

I am guilty of this in my everyday life with friends, family and co-workers and I found that the book helped be realise this fact and gave me practical tips to reverse this way of listening and to really hear what the people around me are saying. The focus is largely on Lale Sokolov (who you’ll know of if you’ve read The Tattooist of Auschwitz), about how the author spend so much time with him, listening and absorbing his history so she could tell his story. Heather talks of how on this journey she met other Holocaust survivors, Lale’s friends, and heard their horrific stories, some of which inspired her second book Cilka’s Journey.