logo

98 pages 3 hours read

Georgia Hunter

We Were the Lucky Ones

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2017

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Essay Topics

1.

The author conducted extensive research in preparing to write this book. The key milestones that form the foundation of the story are based on that research. She then “fleshed out” the narrative with details, dialogue, and additional events. Is We Were the Lucky Ones accurately a novel, or is the book more of a narrative non-fiction work? 

2.

Why do you think the author chose this format, rather than writing in a more traditional biography format?

3.

How does the style of the book, in which each chapter is told from the perspective of one or two characters, impact the story?

4.

How did knowing that this novel is based on a real family’s history affect your perception of the story while you were reading it?

5.

Why do you think the author did not find out her family members were Holocaust survivors until she was 15 and after her grandfather’s death? Why was this not talked about when she was younger?

6.

Compare the Kurc family’s attempt to assimilate into mainstream Polish society before the war with the way the family later assimilates into foreign countries after the war.

7.

There are many characters in this novel, and their stories both intertwine and progress independently from one another. How were you able to keep track of each of the main characters’ trajectory? How does this narrative technique shape the reader’s experience?

8.

This novel has been optioned as a motion picture. How do you think the story will translate to the screen? What elements could be emphasized in a visual medium?

9.

Give an example of an “ordinary hero,” someone who helps save one of the main characters through a selfless act. How does the saved Kurc react to the “hero’s” assistance?

10.

If you have read other books about Holocaust survivors, how did this story differ from another book you read? How was it similar?

blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text