Georgia Hunter (1) (1985–)

I love historical fiction books about World War II. I picked this book up because of a monthly challenge for a book with Luck or Lucky in the title. And finding out that it is also becoming a show on one of the streaming services.

I enjoyed this book based on real people and how they survived one of the darkets moments in world history. This is the story of the Kurcs. You have the mother, father, sisters, brothers, cousins etc. They mostly live in Radom in Polind in 1939. Some of the family live in other areas. One lives in France and comes home for Passover and heads back to France right after the celebrarion.

To loose touch with your family and not know where they are or even if they are still alive, is something we don't think we could survive. This book shows just how resilient people can be when it matters. This family endured beating, starvation, work conditions that were horrendous. One member had a young child and was hiding her while she worked. She finally places her in a catholic convent to hopefully save her.

As the war ended and seeing the family slowly find each other was a heartwarming moment. I am so glad I took the time to read this book.… (more)

Trigger Warnings: Holocaust, war, death, starvation

In Radom, Poland, in March of 1939, the Kurc family’s talk around the Seder table is of new babies and budding romance - not really much of the shadows of the war just around the corner, or the hardships threatening Jews, but the empty set where middle son, Addy should be, is a heavy reminder. Nothing changes overnight, but new rules, regulations, and laws go into effect and then suddenly, Europe is inescapable.

One sibling is forced into exile, another gets shuffled between refugee boats halfway across the world, others struggle to escape certain death; rather that’s working grueling hours on empty stomachs in the ghetto or hiding as gentiles in plain sight. We Are the Lucky Ones is inspired by the incredible true story of one Jewish family separated at the start of the war and their determination to not only survive, but to reunite.

Right, so I have enough titles on my plate right now to last me through to forever, but I started watching the adaptation of this when it dropped on Hulu a few weeks ago, thinking I’d cheat a little and watch the show first (yea, yea, I know, you don’t do that!). But then, it left me on a cliffhanger I did not care to endure for an entire week while I waited for the next episode - so, I went out and bought the book (yes, I even bit the bullet and bought the one with the stupid Hulu advertisement on it because I couldn’t find any older versions). I then read from Saturday late afternoon up until 3:00 am, slept for a bit, then woke up and read the remaining 75 pages or so I couldn’t stay awake for.

Starting off - obviously the tv adaptation took a few more liberties in a few of the characters’ storylines. I loved the book ones more because to me, they’re sweeter, but I’ve still got two more episodes left of the series, so maybe it’ll change.

I did appreciate the changing around of all Kurc family members for each chapter. And the little tidbits of history that was happening at the time, because sometimes we would jump a few months and it was nice to know what had been going on or happening.

This is a difficult book about survival in one of the worst times in human history, not everyone will be able to read it, but I just had to when you learn about so many members of one immediate family, their stories, and that it’s based on the author’s family history. This is absolutely added to my recommendation list for historical fiction. Always.… (more)

A memoir of a family that survived the horrors of being a Polish Jew during WW II. An interesting recount that leaves out some key elements, but still manages to convey ow lucky so many of the family was able to survive and find one another. Kirkus: Hunter?s debut novel tracks the experiences of her family members during the Holocaust.Sol and Nechuma Kurc, wealthy, cultured Jews in Radom, Poland, are successful shop owners; they and their grown children live a comfortable lifestyle. But that lifestyle is no protection against the onslaught of the Holocaust, which eventually scatters the members of the Kurc family among several continents. Genek, the oldest son, is exiled with his wife to a Siberian gulag. Halina, youngest of all the children, works to protect her family alongside her resistance-fighter husband. Addy, middle child, a composer and engineer before the war breaks out, leaves Europe on one of the last passenger ships, ending up thousands of miles away. Then, too, there are Mila and Felicia, Jakob and Bella, each with their own share of struggles¥pain endured, horrors witnessed. Hunter conducted extensive research after learning that her grandfather (Addy in the book) survived the Holocaust. The research shows: her novel is thorough and precise in its details. It?s less precise in its language, however, which frequently relies on clich?. ?You?ll get only one shot at this,? Halina thinks, enacting a plan to save her husband. ?Don?t botch it.? Later, Genek, confronting a routine bit of paperwork, must decide whether or not to hide his Jewishness. ?That form is a deal breaker,? he tells himself. ?It?s life and death.? And: ?They are low, it seems, on good fortune. And something tells him they?ll need it.? Worse than these stale phrases, though, are the moments when Hunter?s writing is entirely inadequate for the subject matter at hand. Genek, describing the gulag, calls the nearest town ?a total shitscape.? This is a low point for Hunter?s writing; elsewhere in the novel, it?s stronger. Still, the characters remain flat and unknowable, while the novel itself is predictable. At this point, more than half a century?s worth of fiction and film has been inspired by the HolocaustÂ¥a weighty and imposing tradition. Hunter, it seems, hasn?t been able to break free from her dependence on it.Too beholden to sentimentality and clich?, this novel fails to establish a uniquely realized perspective.… (more)