A wonderful, at times harrowing, story of a Polish-Jewish family (parents and their 5 children in their 20s) during WWII. Though it is a novel, the story is written by the granddaughter of one of the children, only discovering their past as a teenager. The story is based on interviews with the next generation primarily. I found it much easier to read the various experiences they endured knowing that most if not all survived. Very suspenseful and interesting nonetheless. Highly recommend!

Excellent book! I have read quite a few books about WWII, but this one I will definitely remember. What happened to this family and millions of others should never be forgotten. I could not imagine what it would be like to not know where my family members are or what has happened to them. Heart wrenching!

I have read many books based on WWII and try to get a different perspective through different areas of Europe. I can't believe this is Georgia Hunter's debut novel. She has a great writing and the topic was well narrated. Even though this is categorized as a historical fiction about WWII, it is mostly based off of her family's history. The story is devastating to read because of the horrendous acts of the war, yet inspirational due to the bravery and grit that her characters/family members possessed to try to survive the war. It had jaw dropping moments throughout the plot, and by the end I couldn't stop the tears rolling down my face.

Each chapter gave facts and dates about the war before tell the story of the different characters, which I loved. It helped give perspective on what the realities were in each of the locations before reading on.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Group Viking, and the author for allowing me to read this book for an honest review.

Intrigued by the story and the austerity of this cover I requested this e galley and I am so very happy that I did. While I often think that I have read all the stories of WW II and the utter nightmare of the Holocaust, I am wrong, so wrong, as each individual and each family has a unique story to tell. The Kurc family and their journey is one I will never forget.

Georgia Hunter learned that she was from a family of Holocaust survivors when she was 15, and she was shocked she was just now learning this. Her grandfather, Addy Kurc had been a young man living in France when the war began and the Nazis took over Poland where his family was. He would spend many years trying to reach them, serving in the war, escaping France and eventually arriving in Brazil, and then the USA. He changed his name to Eddy and never really talked about his youth. Georgia really began to piece things together at a family reunion her mother helped to organize, and as she heard all the passed down stories, and meet some of his siblings the reality sank in, and she knew she must know more.

While written as a novel, as I’m sure some details are fictionalized the story of the Kurc family is amazing. As the author says, they shouldn’t have survived. I first encourage you to read Georgia’s website, and the details of how she uncovered so much about her family. Then I recommend curling up with We Were the Lucky Ones and savoring every word. It’s not a difficult read, I really read through it quickly as I was so amazed at the determination of the people.

My review is really simple, be prepared to rejoice in the triumphs and cry in the pain and suffering this family witnessed. There are remarkable and heroic people all around us. I’m so very happy that Georgia Hunter wrote this book to share her family history with us.

We Were the Lucky Ones is the harrowing story about a Polish Jewish family during the Holocaust and their miraculous survival. It's a story based on a real-life family and the author is the granddaughter of one of the adult children in the book. It is being marketed as a work of fiction and that, in many ways, is the strength but also the weakness of the book. As a factual account of the Holocaust and the annihilation of Polish Jews, I was deeply moved. Every pogrom, every round-up, every massacre and every liquidation of a ghetto, especially Warsaw Ghetto, made my teeth clench and my heart beat wildly. Every scene where it seemed possible that one of the members of the Kruc family might be jailed, or tortured or killed was unbearable. The historical context, the fact-based timeline, the exhaustive descriptions of the destruction of Polish Jewry is so just so vividly written I couldn't put it down.

The challenge of the book for me was the characterizations of each of the family members (fiction) as they strove to survive. They did not individually come to life for me or seem distinct enough. The lack of any tension between them just does not seem real. No family members had cross words with each other, no disagreements, no fraught interactions and they were completely conflict free. Given the death and destruction all around them and the fear and terror that this created it's hard to imagine that every interaction was so supportive and loving.

We Were Lucky also made me think about what it means to be lucky. It could be easy to think that the Krucs were braver, tougher or more resilient than others but I detest this idea for what does it mean that so many ordinary and extraordinary people did die? It is unimaginable that those who died did not fight for their lives as hard as they could. Maybe we will never really know the how's and why's of survival but I think the author's title of the book and its emphasis on luck is on target and greatly appreciated.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Viking for allowing me to review this book for an honest opinion.

Knowing this story is based on real members of the author's family, it's a bit difficult to review the plot adequately. Most of the events in this book are real, after all. It's a book set during WWII, which means there is despair and loss and heartbreak and yes, some hope. You have to have some hope in these books or you would never be able to get through them. This book is about a family who becomes separated after WWII. The books follows them through the entire war and it spans across Europe and Africa. I think that my rating went up a little when I finished the book and read the author's note detailing how this book was about her family. And the ending kind of helped me too. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what issues I had with this book. First of all, there were just so many members of the family and the chapters went back and forth between each one. It took me a while to get everyone straight in terms of who the parents were and siblings and spouses and honestly, I still wasn't sure I had everyone straight by the end of the book. But I eventually fell in love with these characters, even though I wasn't entirely sure who was married to whom. The author did a great job with her research and there were so many little details that made this book read like a truly accurate account of the horrifying conditions during the war. I loved that aspect of the writing. But there were times when the timelines would jump around and people would be in a different location the next time we saw them with no explanation of the time in between. I can appreciate that the author was telling the story of a lot of people, but I guess there were just so many people that the author couldn't really focus on everyone. So there was too much detail on some events and not enough detail on others. I do like that the author also put a note on the end, describing where everyone was in their lives and what happened to them. This was a very emotional story and it's worth reading, but I just didn't think there was enough focus on emotional depth on some events for my taste.

This wonderful book tells a story that will stay with me for a long time. The "Lucky" ones were not so much lucky as they were resourceful, daring, and courageous. Harper tells her story with great writing, keeping this reader glued to her kindle late into the night. I hope this is only the first of many books she shares with us.

This beautifully written book is based on the author's family story, which she never knew until she was in her 20's. At times it was difficult to read because of the numerous ways the Polish Jewish population was at first discriminated against and then systematically "liquidated". It's not so much that any of the information was new, it was the continuous nature of the battle this family waged just to survive. If I hadn't known it was based on a true story I would have thought this was an impossible, unbelievable tale.

World War II literature is my genre. I can't get enough. I believe it's an impossible odyssey to grasp and to comprehend the horrors that occurred at that time, not just under Hitler but around the world as well. It's as if the planet sustained a virus that, hopefully, will never reappear. But there are so many novels now that sometimes it's overkill. The one thing I really enjoyed about this book is that it led me to look into the Brazilian piece of the story, one that I never knew about until lately. I did find it very far fetched that all the members of one family had so many things go right when for most families everything went wrong. But I guess that's the point of this book. It did allow the author to explore many facets of the events of the war. Well written. Definitely worth a read by WWII fiction buffs

This is a wonderful historical fiction novel based on the true story of the author's family. As with all books about the Holocaust, it's difficult to read in parts but these are facts in our history that we don't want to forget if we don't want them to happen again.

It's the story of the Kurc family, parents and five children who are Polish Jews and the story begins in the late 1930s. The Nazis are gaining power but the family continues to feel safe because they are prestigious members in their community. As the Nazis continue to take over Poland with their goal being to wipe out the Jewish community in the country, the family travel to different places in Europe. For the duration of the war, most of them have no communication with each other and no idea if any of the family is still alive. It's a well told story and follows each member of the family as they struggle to survive the horrendous conditions that were going on during these years.

I strongly recommend this book. It's a story about WWII but more importantly it's the story of a family's love for each other and their ability to survive the worst conditions imaginable through their love and strength.

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book for review. All opinions are my own.

What a fantastic debut novel! How the Kurc family survived the atrocities of WWII is an amazing true story of courage & determination. The thing that stood out to me about this novel was that the experiences of the members of this one family were so diverse. Only complaint was that being a large family it was difficult trying to keep track of who, when and where everyone was. I did notice, however, that the print version includes a character chart which would've helped out a lot. This is another, absolute, must read for lovers of WWII fiction. 4.5 stars.

I read quite a lot of historical fiction that takes place during WWII. Even though reading about the horrors of war and the Holocaust can be so very heartbreaking, I feel it is important to remember those who fought in the war and to especially remember those who died so tragically. This story of three generations of the Kurc family is beautifully written and is indeed heart-rending. While it is considered historical fiction, it is based on author Georgia Hunter's grandfather and his family. From the beginning of the book to the very end, including the Author's Note, this book will have readers captivated. I highly recommend this magnificent debut novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of We Were the Lucky Ones in exchange for my honest review.

When American author Georgia Hunter was 15 years old, she found out that she came from a family of Holocaust survivors. We Were the Lucky Ones is classified as a novel--fiction--because of the way that this story is told through dialogue, BUT, it is not a typical novel in that it is based on real people, uses their real names, and tells what actually happened to them. Hunter has taken the family stories told by her grandfather and his siblings and parents and turned them into this very powerful book which is unlike no other WWII novel or biography or memoir I have ever read. The story begins in the spring of 1939 in the town of Radom, Poland, with three generations of the Kurc family enjoying a Seder meal together. The novel goes on to describe what happens to the family during the next six years of war. What makes this story even more remarkable is that this Polish Jewish family--the parents, and their four grown children, and granddaughter sitting around that Seder table ( as well as a fifth son who was in France) all manage to survive the war despite the fact that they are scattered to five continents, and survive ghettos and concentration camps and even a Stalinist Soviet work camp in Siberia. What happened to this family is quite harrowing and painful to read, but, it is also an amazing story of hope and perseverance. At the end of the "novel" the author shares facts about her family and there is also a website with more information., and this makes the book even more powerful. Hunter has done an excellent job. Thank you Penguin Group Viking for allowing me to review an ARC of this unique and powerful book through NetGalley.

Over the past few years, since I began keeping track of the books I read, I've noticed that the books I rate the highest are either nonfiction or, if they are fiction, involve a marginalized group of individuals, or both. Maybe this has to do with the type of work that I do, or the life experiences I've had, but these are the stories that seem to be the most impactful and stick with me for the longest period of time.

Shortly after finishing We Were the Lucky Ones, I emailed the author, Georgia Hunter; I'm sure I sounded like a bumbling idiot. I was feeling, as some would say, all the feels. In that email, I mentioned to her that I'd not felt this impacted by a novel, a story, since I was a young girl and read The Diary of Anne Frank (In case you're wondering, she responded quickly and is absolutely delightful.). Of all the novels I read as a youngster, and even as a teenager, the two I think of most often are The Diary of Anne Frank and All Quiet on the Western Front; I guess it's no surprise that I ended up studying the history of our world wars in college.

Even if you're not a fan of either of these time periods, or even of historical fiction, We Were the Lucky Ones is too good to miss: the experiences of a single family, throughout the span of World War II (from the German invasion of Poland in 1939 to V-E Day in 1945, and beyond), and the events that would change their lives, their entire trajectory, forever.

"Holding the wrinkled paper with both hands, she recognizes her sister’s handwriting immediately.
'They are taking us away. I think they are going to kill us.'"

Hunter's writing, her capacity for sharing this story, prompted me to immediately fall in love with the Kurc family. I found myself alternately cringing during the most heinous of their treatment, and the conditions under which they were forced to live, and shouting for joy at every small victory.

"She hugs her purse to her side, feeling the lump of the cutlery against her ribs. The last time she’d used these knives and forks was around her parents’ dining table. She’d have laughed then if someone had told her that someday they might be worth her husband’s life."

Although Hunter has been researching, interviewing and writing for several years, this novel seems quite timely; it is a heartbreakingly realistic reminder that we all share the same desires, the same needs, the same humanity. It is also a reminder that the most horrifying, traumatic experiences of our lives never leave us; rather, they become incorporated into our story, our being, and place us on an entirely different path than the one we might have expected.

"Six years ago, Hitler’s proclamation to remove the Jews from the continent seemed absurd. No one believed such coldblooded plans could come to fruition. But now they know."

After finishing this novel, I seem to have strong emotional surges when I reflect upon it and I'm sure I'll be doing that for quite some time. I feel unequipped to give you an accurate description of its worthiness, but I'll admit that I've already purchased extra copies (I can't remember ever having done this in the past) to give as gifts and I hope that many of you will take the time to read about this nearly unbelievable journey.

"What matters, she tells herself, is that even on the hardest days, when the grief is so heavy she can barely breathe, she must carry on. She must get up, get dressed, and go to work. She will take each day as it comes. She will keep moving."

As a side note, just when you think you've heard it all, please make sure to read the author's notes at the end...mind blowing!

We Were the Lucky Ones

by Georgia Hunter

We Were the Lucky Ones tells the story of a family of Polish Jews during what was arguably the most difficult time for Jews in European history. This work of historical fiction is written by Georgia Hunter, a descendant who spent years researching, traveling, and interviewing family members to uncover this amazing story of rare survivors. As the author notes, “By the end of the Holocaust, 90 percent of Poland’s three million Jews were annihilated; of the more than thirty thousand Jews who lived in Radom, fewer than three hundred survived.” Although it is fiction, it has been closely based on facts. The author also intersperses short paragraphs summarizing the historical events of World War II as they relate to this family and notes at the beginning of each chapter the date and location of the events in that section. We Were the Lucky Ones begins in March 1939 and concludes in 1947.

The novel moves through history by telling the story of each family member at various times through an excruciating eight year period. Some experience prison and the torture of interrogation; others endure Siberian work camps, life in a Polish ghetto, extermination by pogrom. The family members are subjected to various extremeties: death, disease, starvation, persecution, betrayal. Through all of these trials, one of their greatest pains is not knowing the fate of their loved ones. A constant theme is their unending love of family.

I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to the Penguin Group (Viking) for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 5/5

Category: Historical Fiction, General Fiction (Adult)

Publication: February 14, 2017--Penguin Group (Viking)

Memorable Lines:

But after a few days, they found they had little left to talk about. The chatter ceased and a funerary silence settled upon the train car, like ash over a dying fire. Some wept, but most slept or simply sat quietly, withdrawing deeper into themselves, encumbered by the fear of the unknown, the reality that wherever they were being sent, it was far, far away from home.

And suddenly, the consequences of this war were undeniably real--an understanding that sent Halina spiraling as she wrestled with the knowledge she both feared and loathed: she was powerless.

Nechuma used to reassure herself that they had lived through pogroms before, that in time, the fighting, the bloodshed would pass. But with the news from Lodz she’s come to understand that the situation they are in now is something entirely different. This isn’t just being subjected to profound hunger and poverty. This isn’t persecution. This is extermination.

My Thoughts about We Were the Lucky Ones:

World War II “annihilated over 90% of Poland’s Jews and […] all but about 300 of the 30,000 Jews from Radom,” Georgia Hunter’s ancestors’ home. Yet, her entire family survived. We Were the Lucky Ones is based on the story of how they did it.

The Kurc family’s experience during World War II, beginning in Poland and stretching to Siberia, Italy, and Brazil is nothing short of a harrowing odyssey, the outcome of which defies statistics, explanation, and imagination. Despite the many horrific details of their experience, this is a story of hope, inspiration, and true grit.

I’ve historically had a tendency to get bogged down in World War II books, but I never felt that way while reading We Were the Lucky Ones. Hunter did a masterful job at keeping the story moving along, making it feel like a “quick read” in a page-turning sense, even though it’s not a short or light book. Rather than the war itself, the story is more about what life was like during the war for a Polish Jewish family and Hunter’s caring attention to detail made the backdrop come alive. We Were the Lucky Ones would be a fantastic choice for anyone who enjoyed The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah.

PS – I always love Author’s Notes section in historical fiction…and this one is not to be missed!

Q&A with Georgia Hunter
We Were the Lucky Ones is based on your family’s real-life experience during WWII and you used their real names in the book. What made you decide to make the book fiction?

When I began writing We Were the Lucky Ones, I didn’t have a sense of what the finished product would look like – my goal was simply to convey the story in a way that did my family justice, and that felt less like a history lesson, and more like a novel: visceral and immersive. I wanted readers to understand, through the eyes of the Kurcs, what it meant to be Jewish and on the run during the Second World War.

I thought hard about penning the book as non-fiction, as each of my storylines is based on facts uncovered in oral histories or through outside research. (I did change a couple of names, but only for the sake of clarity.) I realized in early drafts, however, that I’d stuck so closely to what I’d been told in my interviews that my characters came across as a touch too perfect (most of my relatives were depicted to me – rightfully so – as heroes). The Kurcs were courageous, resilient, and ingenious, yes. But they were also human. They were falling in love (even making babies!), and they must have also been confused and angry and at times racked with fear.

And so, I decided in the end to write the book as fiction, in the present tense, allowing myself the creative license to dive deep into my characters’ psyches, imagining to the best of my ability what was running through the Kurcs’ hearts and minds. It’s my hope that in doing so, I was able to bring the story even closer to the truth.

Tell us a little bit about your research and writing. How long did you spend researching the Kurc family story and how long did you spend doing the actual writing?

I began researching my book nine years ago when I set off with a digital voice recorder and an empty notebook to interview a relative in Paris. From there I flew to Rio de Janeiro and across the States, meeting with cousins and friends – anyone with a story to share. My family’s narrative took shape, at first, in the form of a timeline, which I peppered with historical details and color-coded by relative to help keep track of who was where/when.

Where there were gaps in my timeline, I looked to outside resources – to archives, museums, ministries, and magistrates around the world, in hopes of tracking down relevant information.

I began actually writing my book in bits and pieces, and probably sooner than I should have! I’d come home from an interview so excited about a story I’d been told that I’d write it down and save it. By the time I put some serious thought into how the book should unfold, I had dozens of one-off scenes already crafted. Each would make it into the book eventually, but my most productive writing came when I sat down in 2011 to plot an outline and chapter summaries.

Your research involved extensive global travel. What was the most impactful destination you visited?

Great question! Of all of the places I visited in South America and in Europe, I’d have to say my trip to Radom, the city in central Poland where my grandfather was raised, was the most moving.

My husband and I explored Radom with a guide, a young man named Jakub whom I’d contacted through the city’s Culture Center. Jakub showed us the old Jewish cemetery, which I was shocked to learn was still being restored, as the tombstones had been repurposed by the Nazis for a military airport runway. We visited the apartment building where my family lived, and I got chills running my fingers along a rusted mezuzah still adhered to the cement arched entranceway (only one of two remaining mezuzahs in the entire city, Jakub said).

I left Radom understanding why my great-grandparents had felt at home raising a family there – the city was quaint, livable; I appreciated its understated, small-town vibe. But I couldn’t help but also feel the presence of the 30,000 Jews who had once inhabited the city (a community that was reduced to fewer than 300 by war’s end), who had enjoyed it for what it was before their worlds were shattered.

Reading some of the more gruesome details hit me more than usual knowing they actually happened to a friend’s family. What was it like to learn some of the more horrific things your family went through?

It was tough, as it meant trying to put myself in my relatives’ shoes, imagining what it must have been like to experience the things they did (talk about putting my own “problems” in perspective!). It was also hard because the stories I uncovered in my interviews (e.g., what it was like to lose a sister, or to run through the streets of Warsaw during an uprising, or to give birth to a child in the thick of a Siberian winter) were conveyed with stoicism, the gruesome details glossed over. Even in the first-hand Shoah interviews I had access to, I was amazed at the matter-of-fact manner in which the Kurcs relayed their wartime experiences. It took a great deal of research to capture these stories on paper in a way that felt accurate to what my relatives might have been thinking/feeling at the time.

What was the most mind-blowing thing you learned about your family during the course of your research?

One of the pieces of my family’s narrative that felt the fuzziest going into my research concerned my great-uncle Genek (my grandfather’s older brother). I knew through interviews with his children that Genek had been sent to Siberia, and had ended up fighting for the Allies in the Battle of Monte Casino…but that was it – I had no idea when or why he’d been sent to Siberia, when or why he’d been released, or how he eventually ended up in uniform on Italian soil.

Through the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, I discovered a nine-page, hand-written account of Genek’s, which answered all of these questions, and then some. I was also able, through the Ministry of Defense in the U.K., to track down Genek’s detailed military records, including Medals of Honor he’d never collected. It was a real joy to hand over these discoveries to Genek’s sons.

How has your family reacted to the book?

Thankfully, those who have read an early copy of the book have loved it! I can’t tell you how great that feels. Getting feedback from the family, hearing how much the book has taught them or moved them, has been the most uplifting and gratifying feeling in the world.

What’s the best book you read in 2016?

Hmm…it would have to be a toss up between Paula McLain’s Circling the Sun or Cheryl Strayed’s Tiny Beautiful Things (which were released before 2016, but I read them last year and adored them both).

And, your top 3 all-time favorites? I know this is a ridiculously hard question to answer!

Yes, nearly impossible to answer! I will say, however, that the three books I recommend the most to friends are:

City of Thieves by David Benioff (a WWII survival account based on stories passed down by Benioff’s grandfather – the book unfolds like a film and was an early inspiration for my own novel)

Wonder by R. J. Palacio (a Y/A novel about a young 5th grade boy with a facial deformity, struggling to fit in)

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott (insightful, funny, and provocative, for writers and non-writers alike)

What’s the best WWII book you’ve ever read (other than your own, of course)?

Another tough one! But if I had to pick, the one at the very top of my WWII list would be Julie Orringer’s historical novel, The Invisible Bridge. The book is nearly 800 pages long – and for that very reason it took me a while to pick it up – but when I did, I grew so consumed with the fates of Orringer’s characters, and so lost in her gorgeous prose, that I couldn’t put it down.

I see many similarities between Orringer’s protagonist, Andras (who is based on her grandfather), and Addy, my own grandfather, who were both young Jews living in Paris, separated from their families at the start of the Second World War.

Finally…are you doing any writing now and do you have plans for a second book?

Most of my recent writing has been devoted to interviews and essays in preparation for the launch of We Were the Lucky Ones (Viking is keeping me busy!), so I haven’t had much time to think about book #2. That said I’ve got a running list of ideas that I’ll flush out when the time comes. I’m inspired (as you may have gathered) by stories based on truth, and I love an underdog protagonist – someone faced with terrible odds, whom you can really cheer for, and whose story offers a big-picture understanding of a place or time with which you might be unfamiliar. I just saw the film Lion and left the theater teary-eyed and thinking WOW – now that’s exactly the kind of story I want to write about next.

We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter (debut)
Publisher: Viking
Release Date: February 14, 2017
Length: 416 pages

Single Sentence Summary: As World War II ravages Poland from Germany in the east and Russia in the west, the Kurcs, a large, very close Jewish family, try to survive by any means possible.

Primary Characters: This story is really about the entire Kurc family, too many to list. Sol and Nechuma, 52 & 50 at the story’s onset, head the family. They have five children, ranging in age from 31 to 21. Some are married. Others marry. They have one grandchild.

Synopsis: In 1939, the members of the Kurc family were leading an unremarkable life in Radom, Poland. They were a very close-knit Jewish family who truly enjoyed spending time together. As the threats from Germany and Russia became all too real, it was evident that in order to be a family again, they’d first have to fight, in ways they’d never imagined, to survive the war. The path to survival was different for each and therein lays the story of We Were the Lucky Ones.

Review: I’ve read a lot of World War II novels. I migh go as far as to say that I’m somewhat of an aficionado in that genre. Last fall I even did a post on “Favorite WWII Novels.” Yet even with all that background, I have never read another WWII book remotely like We Were the Lucky Ones, Georgia Hunter’s sweeping debut. Taken from her own family’s history (do not overlook the afterward), Hunter delivered a novel that was exclusively about a Jewish family from Poland trying to stay alive. There were no characters appearing for more than a few pages who were not in the Kurc family or directly connected to their survival. It was a refreshing take!

The title of this novel is apt, for in many ways the Kurcs were extremely lucky. Yet, make no mistake about it, the Kurcs lived through horrors during the War.

“It was the soft thud of the infant’s body meeting the earth that broke Herta, causing the numbness to give way to a hate that burned so deeply within, she wondered if her organs might catch fire.”

They were not left unscarred, but were lucky in that they were largely able to avoid the death camps. As the truths of what was happening all around them became evident, the Kurcs were unwavering in their common goals of surviving the War and being reunited again. You cheered the Kurc family as they used any means possible to meet these goals: forging documents, crawling on hands and knees trough a muddy field, passing as gentiles, hiding a child among bolts of fabric, fleeing the continent.

I was also a big fan of Hunter’s writing in We Were the Lucky Ones. She used several techniques that really made the story. To start, the story was told chronologically and along the way Hunter included short bits on what major events were happening in the War. This was great for overall perspective. She also moved the story along in short chapters highlighting different members of the family. This made the reader invested in the entire Kurc family. And finally, Hunter kept the story to the Kurc family, almost exclusively – no tangents, no side stories, no long-winded descriptive passages. This was a family saga at its best, bringing tears not where you might expect, but in the happy moments. If you’re a fan of World War II novels you should definitely read We Were the Lucky Ones. If you’re not, this book will make you one! Grade: A

Note: I received a copy of this book from Viking and the author (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review. Thank you!

This book is categorized as fiction. However, at the end of the book I learned that it is story of the author’s family. At the age of fifteen Georgia Hunter was assigned a research project in school. Thus began her quest to interview her relatives and learn of her ancestors.

In 1939 the Kurc family was Jewish and living in Poland – father Sol, mother Nechuma, sons Selim, Jakob, and Genek, and daughter Halina. Son Addy was living in Paris. As the war begins the family goes in various directions. For the first half of the book I had difficulty keeping the characters straight. There’s all the siblings, their wives, their children, and aunts, uncles, and cousins. As they went on the run, the story fragments. This is where I found myself flipping back and forth to refresh my memory as to which sibling this was and what had happened several chapters back. The last half of the book was easier to read as by then I had the characters in my head.

Other than that Ms. Hunter’s writing made the scenes so realistic with her descriptions of what the Kurcs suffered and how difficult and uncertain everyday life was at the time. Going along for the ride was terrifying. Life was brutal, and survival nearly impossible. How do you survive when food is scarce, you are on the run constantly, and you feel you can’t trust anyone?

Members of the family dispersed all over -- France, Italy, Kazakhstan (which I found interesting since I wondered how Jews ended up there), Tehran, Siberia, West Africa, Morocco, Brazil, Tel Aviv. Considering how difficult and dangerous it was to travel it was suspenseful wondering who would survive the ordeal and who wouldn’t.

Being Jewish, I have read a lot of books about the Holocaust and at first I thought this one was like all the rest. But I was wrong. This book is different and definitely worth reading.

his is the story of the Kurc family and how despite being separated managed to survive World War II as Polish Jews. Siblings, spouses and parents are all separated at various times, some merely by city blocks but others by continents. Some of the Kurc siblings are simply in hiding but some are captured and sent away to horrible places to work and barely manage to survive.
I will admit that at first I had a hard time keeping all of the characters straight-there are a lot of them! The alternating POV chapters made it a little harder but once I settled into the story the characters became real people. The characters are all amazing and this is a truly great story-so much so that I cannot wait to read it again! The things that this family must go through just to survive are unthinkable.
This isn’t just a story of war but that of survival and love that is based on the real life of Georgia Hunter’s grandfather and his family. When I read this in the author’s notes at the end, the story became just that much more meaningful to me. This is family doing everything they can to be together again and to ensure that they all make it through one of the worst tragedies in world history.

Steph's Book Ramblings: posted 2/13/17 at 9:00am

I would like to thank Penguin Group Viking and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I was really intrigued by this book when it came across in an email from NetGalley with the option to read it. Ever since I first read The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank, I have felt a need to read the stories of those who lived (and died) during the time of the Nazis. What I honestly did not realize when I started reading this book, and in fact did not understand until I got to the afterword by the author, was that We Were the Lucky Ones is based on the true story of her family and their experiences during World War II and with the Nazi regime.

I am giving this book 5 stars because it is extremely well-written and had me on the edge of my seat more times than I can count now. It did take me some time to be able to keep all of the different family members straight, but every single one of them quickly became a person who I could visualize with no problem, and I was tortured many a time while wondering what their fates would be as they faced the many challenges they came up against during the near decade that they were persecuted for their religion. And this was all while I did not yet understand that they were, in fact, actual people and not just a representation of what happened to so many.

Georgia Hunter does a tremendous job in this book of bringing her family's combined stories to life. She talks in the afterword of the research and time that went into the writing of this book, and that very clearly shines through when reading this book. I especially appreciated the fact that sprinkled throughout the chapters there were dated facts that were relevant to the story, which put things into even more glaring (and sometimes frightening) context.

I recommend this book to history lovers, but also to anyone who is concerned about the political climate in America right now. I also recommend having tissues close if/when you read this book, because I found myself feeling very emotionally invested, and at times that certainly involved quite a few tears.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own, and I am never compensated for my reviews.