Sisters Under the Rising Sun

Norah organizes the voice orchestra into sections and begins rehearsals in Camp III. As Margaret recovers, Norah enlists her help in arranging and transcribing various pieces. The orchestra gives its first concert a few days after Christmas, and the women respond with both tears and renewed energy. Internees clean the wells and start a vegetable garden as Norah begins planning how to tackle Ravel’s “Bolero.”

Nevertheless, food remains short. Norah learns that children, including June, crawl under the guards’ hut to scavenge rice grains, risking beatings to do so; the knowledge devastates her, causing her to feel that she is failing to care for June even as Ena and others reassure her that she is doing the best she can. Soon afterward, Ah Fat brings the internees rice and red palm oil. As they learn to cook with these unfamiliar products, the women record recipes of favorite meals on checkbook stubs, bringing back the Camp Chronicle’s cooking section.

One day, Ah Fat informs Mrs. Hinch that the Japanese have decided to house Indonesian guard trainees with the nurses. The women are unhappy with the arrangement but somewhat reassured when the guards erect a makeshift wall between their quarters and the nurses’. When some of the trainees beat a woman, the other women fight them off, and the Japanese remove them. Soon after, an internee named Mary Anderson dies, and the women arrange her burial in the jungle.

In April 1944, the Japanese replace Kato with a new commandant, Captain Seki. He announces ration cuts but seems unaware of what the internees were previously receiving; thus, the amount and quality of the food generally improves, though the nurses worry about the lack of vegetables.

As more internees arrive at the camp, the voice orchestra rehearses Ravel’s “Bolero” and performs a second concert, which Seki attends. Afterward, he orders them to perform Japanese music. Norah refuses, so Seki punishes her by forcing her to stand in the sun all day. When Ena pleads for her, a guard slaps her. Norah endures the punishment and collapses at sunset. Nurses treat her burns with palm oil, and Seki drops his demand for Japanese music.

During the 1944 monsoon season in Camp III, an officer the women nickname “Seedling” supplies vegetable seeds, which the internees use to plant a large garden. Monsoon storms damage the huts, and Sister Catherina leads repairs.

The crops thrive, but before the harvest, Ah Fat announces that the officers have reserved the food. Mrs. Hinch confronts Captain Seki, who rebuffs her, growing even angrier when he learns that she is American because of recent US victories in the war. As Norah slowly recovers from her ordeal, she proposes another concert, but Margaret explains that Seki now requires approval for all performances. Ultimately, Seki grants permission, and the orchestra performs to a prolonged ovation for Norah’s defiance. The women manage one last concert, but their declining health shows.

Guard violence escalates: Dr. McDowell and Mrs. Hinch protest after soldiers assault hospital patients, demanding that the sick women work, and Seki agrees to limit the attacks. However, as Allied planes begin flying overhead, Seki orders the prisoners to board all windows and threatens punishment for anyone seen outside during air raids. Nurses Ray and Valerie peek during a raid and are forced to stand in the sun as punishment. Ray, who has a heart condition, collapses and is pulled to safety by fellow nurses.

Mail arrives for the first time and then for a second. Betty receives a letter confirming that several of the nurses’ friends survived the escape from Singapore. Meanwhile, Mother Laurentia loans Nesta money from the Dutch Red Cross, which the nurses use to buy moon cakes from local traders. Immediately afterward, the guards ban traders from the camp.

In October 1944, Captain Seki announces that he will move half the camp the following day. This entails splitting the nurses into two groups, and Nesta’s protests against this fail. Guards assemble the first group—including Norah, Ena, June, Audrey, Betty, and nurses led by Jean—and take them by truck to a riverboat. A few women are forced to load cargo, including coffins.

The next day, the boat travels down the Banka Strait, where the Vyner Brooke sank, and the nurses silently recall the massacre of their colleagues. At Muntok pier, guards transfer the women to a junk boat and herd them into a hold reeking of kerosene. During an air raid, the guards seal the hatch, and the women choke on fumes for hours. Afterward, they drive the sickened prisoners onto trucks for a journey to an unknown destination.