“Months later, in a different world, Nechuma will look back on this evening, the last Passover when they were nearly all together, and wish with every cell in her body that she could relive it…She will replay it all, over and over again, every beautiful moment of it, and savor it, like the last perfect klapsa pears of the season.”
Pardon us while we bask in our blogging proficiency. Three book reviews in three days, who even are we? All I can say is don't get used to it. Odds are we can't keep up this pace but let's all enjoy it while it lasts, shall we?
At fifteen, Georgia Hunter attended a family reunion that would alter the trajectory of her life. Having only recently learned that her grandfather was a Holocaust survivor, she was stunned to learn he wasn't alone: his parents, four siblings, their spouses and children all survived as well. Thus began her quest to piece together the indelible history of her family—retracing the harrowing footsteps of each member as they fought to survive the atrocities of war and find each other again.
We Were the Lucky Ones, though written as fiction, is the result of Hunter's years-long research and the facts of the family's history were not altered. While the writing felt clunky at times and I didn't always love her format, the Kurc's story is so compelling that in the end none of that mattered. This tale, with it's ode to the triumph of the human spirit, is one of the most inspiring I've read in a long, long while.
*When you finish the book, you'll want to read Hunter's blog for more on her family's incredible history.