We Were the Lucky Ones

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Reflect on Addy Kurc’s relationship with Eliska. How did you respond to their meeting and romance? Did anything surprise you about Eliska’s character and her response to Addy’s situation?

2. The novel explores the importance and power of familial connections. How do the Kurc family’s relationships compare and contrast with your own?

3. Which member of the Kurc family did you identify with most closely? Discuss your personal connections with Addy, Jakob Kurc, Genek Kurc, Mila Kurc, and/or Halina Kurc.

4. Addy’s character relies on music for his survival. Discuss how his connection to music relates to your own survival mechanisms.

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. Set during WWII, We Were the Lucky Ones explores luck during the Holocaust. What role do chance and good fortune play in the Kurc family’s story? How does luck relate to the characters’ religious beliefs? What does Hunter suggest about her own familial connections to the story as a result?

2. The novel is set in various locations in Europe, South America, and North America. Explore how each of these settings relates to the novel’s mood and atmosphere. How do the characters’ relate to each setting, and why? 

3. The novel is set during WWII. How did Hunter’s representation of the era change your understanding of the war and the Holocaust? Discuss which plot points changed your historical perception.

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. Each chapter of the novel is told from a different Kurc family member’s perspective. How do Addy’s, Jakob’s, Genek’s, Mila’s, and Halina’s points of view widen the novel’s thematic explorations? How would the novel resonate differently if told solely from Addy’s point of view?

2. Discuss the symbolic significance of Addy’s handkerchief. How does Hunter use Addy’s relationship to the handkerchief to develop his character and reify his longing for home and family?

3. Explore the significance of Nechuma’s amethyst necklace over the course of the novel. What makes the necklace special? How would the Kurc family’s story have changed if they didn’t have the necklace?

4. Explore the Kurc family’s relationship with their family home. Why is this setting significant to them? How do they seek to recreate this home in the wake of the war?