I found The Tattooist of Auschwitz on a clearance shelf at Barnes & Noble and decided to read it with a friend. Reading books surrounding WWII has always been an interest of mine, so when I saw the title of the novel and the beautiful imagery of two lovers on the front—I had to pick it up.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris is a real tug on the old heartstrings. This third person novel, released in 2017, is a historical fiction book. The book takes place during WWII in the year 1943 and follows the true story of two camp prisoners. Join Lale and Gita as they assist the other prisoners and fall deep in love. 

You will follow Lale from his home town in Slovakia to the horrible grasps of the concentration camp. His upper class life is completely turned upside down. By making some unlikely friends, he manages to help out hundreds of other prisoners in the camp and eventually…. (finish when story is done, don’t spoil, but hint to the ending)

Most stories about concentration camps are written in the first person like Yellow Star and Between Shades Of Gray. Both of those books are incredible, but this novel allows you to view the topic from a whole new perspective with its third person omniscient narrator. This story is about love being formed. You hear mostly about the relationships lost during the holocaust, but this book takes on a whole new perspective.  Heather Morris does an incredible job of following the main character in such a way that you feel like you are connected to the other characters just like he is.

The emotions that Morris creates are incredible. You experience the deep emotions from both the male and female characters, making it impossible not to feel empathetic. The romance, suspense, disgust, and anguish are what make the book so hard to put down. The dialogue between the characters as well as their internal thoughts does all of the explaining, this keeps you engaged in each character's opinions and emotions. 

Though I was disappointed the book came to an end, Morris is still full of surprises. In May of 2022, Peacock and Morris announced that the New York Times Bestseller was going to be made into a movie. The movie is said to be released in some European countries as of now and will be released in the US on May 2, 2024. My high hopes for this movie are even greater than my love for the book.