We Were the Lucky Ones

By Georgia Hunter

Viking, February 14, 2017, $27. Moveable Feast date: January 16 at Kimbel's, Wachesaw

We Were the Lucky Ones is a beautiful novel that examines the lives of members of the Kurc family as World War II begins, rages and ends.

The book opens with three generations of family gathered around for Seder in the spring of 1939. Though Nechuma is saddened her middle son, Addy, was not able to make the journey home to Poland from France for the holiday, the talk around the table is still lively, centering around her oldest daughter Mila’s new baby with her husband, Selim, and the blossoming romance between her youngest daughter, Halina, and the family’s boarder, Adam. Also seated at the table are her husband, Sol, and her oldest son Genek and his wife, Herta. Rounding out the group is her youngest son, Jakob, and his longtime girlfriend, Bella.

Soon the rumors of war become a reality. The family is flung to different corners of the world, all the while trying to stay safe and return to each other. Whether forced into exile, attempting to flee the continent for safety, or just trying to stay alive between grueling working hours and no food in the ghetto they are forced to live in, the hope to be reunited as a family keeps the Kurcs going.

The narrative is told by switching between characters each chapter, which makes for a gripping and moving tale that is hard to put down and even harder to forget.

Secrets in Summer

By Nancy Thayer

Ballantine Books, May 16, 2017, $27. Moveable Feast date: January 23 at Ocean One, Litchfield

If you’re looking for a fun beach read to get you through the winter months, look no further than Nancy Thayer’s Secrets in Summer. The novel focuses on 30-year-old Darcy, who is happily living in Nantucket in the beautiful home her grandmother left her. Working her dream job as a librarian, Darcy has fallen into the simple and pleasant routines of island life. That is until her summer neighbors arrive and one of them turns out to be her ex-husband, Boyz, his new wife, Autumn, (the one Darcy caught him cheating on her with) and Autumn’s 14-year-old daughter, Willow.

The fun cast of characters also includes other summer neighbors—the elderly Mimi who reminds Darcy of her beloved grandmother, Mimi’s gorgeous grandson, Clive, and the Brueckners with their troubled marriage and three rowdy sons. Darcy has also started dating a handsome but distant carpenter, Nash. Does he want something more than a summer fling? This lighthearted book explores both the relationships between people and learning about yourself.