About the Author
Heather Morris is an international no.1 bestseller and has sold over 19 million copies worldwide. This brand-new novel is a fresh direction for Heather but speaks to all the themes that readers know and love her for: hope in the darkest of places, family, love and courage.
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 18 million copies worldwide. Sisters Under the Rising Sun, a heart-wrenching novel based upon the experiences of women in Japanese POW camps, was published in 2023 to great acclaim. Heather's first contemporary novel, The Wish, will be published in September 2025.
About the book
From the international No. 1 bestselling author Heather Morris comes a heartbreaking contemporary novel of a dying teenager's final wish, a lonely young man's journey towards connection, and the unexpected friendship they find together. Perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes, Jodi Picoult, and John Green.
Jesse is 15. She loves her friends, her little brother and her parents - even when they're arguing, which feels like constantly these days. But most of all, she loves playing video games. Even from her hospital bed.
Alex is 29. He doesn't love a lot of things. To be honest, he's not really sure he knows how to. His desk at work, as VR games designer, is empty, much like his life feels sometimes.
Then Jesse makes a wish. A simple one: a video experience made of her life, something to be there, just in case she isn't. One loving teenager. One lonely adult. Which one will get the happy ending?
Review
In a way the grief of a sudden death differs from one after a prolonged illness. The illness in itself becomes part of a strange grieving process with the possibility of saying goodbye. This story encapsulates the many ripples a tragic death can cause, especially when the dying person is a child or young person. It's perhaps the biggest tragedy, when a short life comes to an end. No time to experience life, to encounter different versions of themselves and the constant reminder of a ticking clock.
The moments experiencing life without the medical constraints and limitations of physical illness are perhaps the most tragic. Conversations with the universe, the sea, the world around her. The sea and waves that speak to Jesse all elements of a freedom and a future she craves.
The essence of the story is more about the way human connections can bring forth a strength, resilience and power that is undeniably an element specific to our race. Sometimes we are powerless in the face of tragedy, how we continue and how we face life afterwards is an individual journey that becomes easier when the path travelled is a shared one.
Morris is quite adept at pulling heartstrings and creating a story that remains with us in more ways than one.
Buy The Wish at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Published by Zaffre in Hardback, eBook, and Audio pub date 11th September 2025. Buy at Amazon com. Buy via Bookshop org.
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