We Were the Lucky Ones
A Novel
by Georgia Hunter
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Pub Date Jan 02 2018 | Archive Date Jan 02 2018
PENGUIN GROUP Penguin | Penguin Books
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Description
Inspired by the incredible true story of one Jewish family separated at the start of World War II, determined to survive—and to reunite—We Were the Lucky Ones is a tribute to the triumph of hope and love against all odds.
“Love in the face of global adversity? It couldn't be more timely.” —Glamour
It is the spring of 1939 and three generations of the Kurc family are doing their best to live normal lives, even as the shadow of war grows closer. The talk around the family Seder table is of new babies and budding romance, not of the increasing hardships threatening Jews in their hometown of Radom, Poland. But soon the horrors overtaking Europe will become inescapable and the Kurcs will be flung to the far corners of the world, each desperately trying to navigate his or her own path to safety.
As one sibling is forced into exile, another attempts to flee the continent, while others struggle to escape certain death, either by working grueling hours on empty stomachs in the factories of the ghetto or by hiding as gentiles in plain sight. Driven by an unwavering will to survive and by the fear that they may never see one another again, the Kurcs must rely on hope, ingenuity, and inner strength to persevere.
An extraordinary, propulsive novel, We Were the Lucky Ones demonstrates how in the face of the twentieth century’s darkest moment, the human spirit can endure and even thrive.
Advance Praise
“[Georgia Hunter is] just as courageous as the characters her writing will never let us forget.”
—Harper’s Bazaar
“Love in the face of global adversity? It couldn’t be more timely.”
—Glamour, “Best Books to Read in 2017”
“[A] gripping and moving story.”
—Bustle, “15 New Authors You’re Going To Be Obsessed With This Year”
“Reading Georgia Hunter’s We Were the Lucky Ones is like being swung heart first into history. Her engrossing and deeply affecting account of how the Kurc family survives the Holocaust, against every possible odd, will leave you breathless. But the true wonder of the book is how convincingly Hunter inhabits these characters, each modeled after her own family members. This is their story Hunter is telling so beautifully and profoundly, and ours as well. A brave and mesmerizing debut, and a truly tremendous accomplishment.”
—Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife and Circling the Sun
“A remarkable story of courage, love, and of course, luck.”
—Book Riot’s Best Books of 2017
“Turning history into fiction can be tricky, especially when using real names and details. Hunter finesses the challenge. Her novel brings the Kurcs to life in heart-pounding detail, from passionate young love and beloved traditions to narrow escapes, heartbreaking choices, starvation, imprisonment and torture. We come to care deeply about the fate of each of these resourceful, determined characters.”
—The Jewish Voice
“The story that so grippingly comes across in the pages of We Were the Lucky Ones isn’t strictly fiction—the characters and events that inhabit this Holocaust survival story are based on her family’s own history.”
—Newsweek
“[A] must-read.”
—New York Post
“[A] remarkable history . . . Hunter sidesteps hollow sentimentality and nihilism, revealing instead the beautiful complexity and ambiguity of life in this extraordinarily moving tale.”
—Publishers Weekly
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9780399563096 |
| PRICE | $18.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 416 |
