The Wish

From the author of global number 1 bestseller The Tattooist of Auschwitz, comes a powerful and heartfelt contemporary novel about courage, family, resilience and finding hope in the darkest of places

Teenager Jesse loves her friends, her little brother and her parents – even when they’re both arguing, which they seem to do all the time these days.

And she also loves playing interactive computer games, from her hospital bed in the children’s can­cer ward.

So, when Jesse is offered the chance to have her greatest wish fulfilled, she immediately knows what she wants: a digital 3D recreation of her life – something to be there for her friends and family to watch and relive … perhaps without her.

There is only one person with the technical skills and creativity to make this happen: the highly talented but reclusive Alex, a visionary 3D CGI video/games designer. Unlike Jesse, Alex doesn’t love a lot of things. To be honest, he’s not really sure he knows how to. He’s in his late twenties, but his troubled past has left him wary of forming any kind of emotional relationship.

But when he enters Jesse’s world, his journey towards connection begins. A beautiful and unexpected friendship blossoms between the desperately ill teenager and the isolated young man, changing both their lives – and those of the people around them – forever.

Author Biography

Born in Te Awamutu, New Zealand, Heather Morris has lived between Australia and New Zealand since 1971. After completing a Bachelor of Arts at Monash University, she worked for over two decades in the Social Work department at a major Australian teaching hospital. During this time, Heather pursued her lifelong passion for storytelling, enrolling in professional scriptwriting courses in both Australia and the USA.

In 2003, Heather was introduced to an elderly man who ‘might just have a story worth telling’. The day she met Lale Sokolov changed both their lives. Lale Sokolov’s story formed the basis for The Tattooist of Auschwitz, published in 2018, and for the follow-up novel, Cilka’s Journey (2019). Three Sisters (2021) concluded the Tattooist trilogy. The Tattooist of Auschwitz went on to become one of the 21st century’s bestselling books, and in 2024 an adaptation of the novel was released as a Stan Original Series, to wide acclaim.

Her most recent historical novel, the heart-wrenching Sisters Under the Rising Sun, is based on the true-life experiences of women held in Japanese POW camps during World War II.

Together, Heather’s books have so far sold over 19 million copies worldwide.

The Wish is Heather’s first contemporary novel. It was inspired by her years spent working in a busy public hospital, alongside families facing the toughest of times with love and courage.