mrs_mander_reads
Written on May 9, 2019
The Kurc family shouldn't have survived the Holocaust. In the spring of 1939 three generations are living relatively normal lives in Poland, despite the hardships Jews face. When war breaks out and the family is cast to the wind, the five Kurc siblings do everything they can to find their way through a devastated continent to freedom. Addy, a musician, charms his way into possession of a Brazilian visa and into the first class piano lounge on a ship full of refugees bound for Rio; Jakob marries the love of his life in an abandoned house to a soundtrack of air sirens; Mila hides her daughter in a Catholic convent outside of Warsaw, only to return weeks later to find the convent in ruins; Genek endures a brutal winter in a Siberian gulag before embarking with his wife and newborn son on a year-long exodus through Persia to fight for the Allies; and Halina attempts to flee over the Austrian Alps on foot - while pregnant. All this, across continents and often in ignorance as to the fate of the rest of their family, while the wheels of war turn. We Were the Lucky Ones is a profoundly moving and memorable novel based on the author's family experiences.
- ISBN13 9780749021566
- Publish Date 14 February 2017
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 10 March 2021
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Allison & Busby
- Format Paperback
- Pages 352
- Language English
Reviews
Liz (Bent Bookworm)
Written on Apr 2, 2017
ETA: I loved it so much I ordered a copy and had it shipped to my parents just IN HOPES they will read it (they probably read 10 books a year put together). Full review to come!