The Piano Teacher of Montparnasse with Heather Morris

Join award winning author Heather Morris for her latest release The Piano Teacher of Montparnasse.

The author of the international bestseller, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, returns with a masterful new novel that captures the astonishing bravery of ordinary people in extraordinary times. The Piano Teacher of Montparnasse, explores the true-life story of an ordinary woman who became an extraordinary figure of resistance during the Nazi occupation of Paris.

Heather Morris first heard about the extraordinary life of French Resistance operative and piano teacher Andrée Levallois through her daughter, Kara. During conversations about her mother's wartime experiences, Kara revealed that the family still had Andrée's piano. Heather became captivated not only by Andrée's courage but also by the role music played throughout her life.

The connection deepened when acclaimed film composer Hans Zimmer became interested in the story and sat down to play the piano himself, creating a powerful bridge between past and present. What began as a family story preserved through a treasured instrument ultimately became a sweeping novel about resistance, survival, music and the enduring power of one woman's promise.

Books will be available for purchase and signing on the day.

$5.00 + booking fee

Afternoon tea on arrival.

Bookings required.

Heather Morris is a native of New Zealand, now resident in Australia. She worked for over two decades in the Social Work department at a major Australian teaching and research hospital. In 2003 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, (2018), and for the follow-up novel, Cilka's Journey (2019). Three Sisters, (2021) the story of three Holocaust survivors who knew Lale from their time in Auschwitz-Birkenau, concluded the Tattooist trilogy.

Heather then released the historical novel, Sisters Under the Rising Sun in 2023, and her first contemporary novel The Wish, in 2025.

Over the past decade, Heather Morris has become one of the world's most widely read interpreters of survivor testimony and untold wartime histories. Through extensive research and conversations with survivors and descendants, she has developed a unique perspective on how stories of resistance, resilience and moral courage can be preserved as we move further away from the events of World War II.

Enquiries: 8495 5028 or libraryprograms@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au