-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
Summary | Discuss | Reviews | More Information | Read-Alikes
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.
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.
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (4/02/2026)
I am finishing We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter. She is coming in another week to speak at a club I belong to. I am listening to it. It is really well read. I finished Gideon's Trumpet. The story o...
-Antoinette_B
What's your favorite WWII historical fiction novel?
We Were The Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter Fabulous!! Great writing, fascinating journey following multiple members of a Polish family as they find their way through the war and after.
-Barbara_B1
"[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
"Reading Georgia Hunter's We Were the Lucky Ones is like being swung heart first into history. Her engrossing and deeply affecting account ... 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
"We Were the Lucky Ones is the most gripping novel I've read in years. Georgia Hunter pulled me into another world, vivid, horrifying, astonishing, and heartbreaking." —Lauren Belfer, New York Times bestselling author of And After the Fire, A Fierce Radiance, and City of Light.
This information about We Were the Lucky Ones was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
When Georgia Hunter was fifteen years old, she learned that she came from a family of Holocaust survivors. We Were the Lucky Ones was born of her quest to uncover her family's staggering history. Hunter's website, georgiahunterauthor.com, offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the extensive research this project has entailed. She lives in Connecticut.
If you liked We Were the Lucky Ones, try these:
We Must Not Think of Ourselves
by Lauren Grodstein
Published 2024
A heart-wrenching story of love and defiance set in the Warsaw Ghetto, based on the actual archives kept by those determined to have their stories survive World War II
by Edwidge Danticat
Published 2020
From the internationally acclaimed, best-selling author of Brother, I'm Dying, a collection of vividly imagined stories about community, family, and love.
by Patrick Kingsley
Published 2017
In the humane tradition of Katherine Boo's Behind the Beautiful Forevers comes a searing account of the international refugee crisis.
The less we know, the longer our explanations.
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Can you name the title?
Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
