One Good Thing by Georgia Hunter
ARC from PRH Audio, Pamela Dorman Books and Netgalley for an honest review
Book Blurb:
1940, Emilia Romagna. Lili and Esti have been best friends since meeting at the University of Ferrara; when Esti’s son Theo is born, they become as close as sisters. There is a war being fought across borders, and in Italy, Mussolini’s Racial Laws have deemed Lili and Esti descendants of an ‘inferior’ Jewish race, but life somehow goes on—until Germany invades northern Italy, and the friends find themselves in occupied territory
Esti, older and fiercely self-assured, convinces Lili to flee first to a villa in the countryside to help hide a group of young war orphans, then to a convent in Florence, where they pose as nuns and forge false identification papers for the Underground. When disaster strikes at the convent, a critically wounded Esti asks Lili to take a much bigger step: To go on the run with Theo. Protect him while Esti can’t.
Terrified to travel on her own, Lili sets out on an epic journey south toward Allied territory, through Nazi-occupied villages and bombed-out cities, doing everything she can to keep Theo safe.
My Review: 4.5 stars
One Good Thing by Georgia Hunter is another historical fiction winner from this incredible author that takes place during the Nazi takeover of Northern Italy. If you were a fan of her debut novel, We Were the Lucky Ones, then you will like this one equally as much.
It’s so very hard to “like” a book when it terrifies you. When the Nazi party tells you you’re inferior due to your heritage, and wants to eliminate an entire race, it’s petrifying. Utterly frightening. But still, these stories need to be told to remind us that history can repeat itself in ways we never thought possible.
This book features two best friends, Lili and Esti, and Esti’s young son Theo. They are running to escape to allied territory and in the process (no spoilers) Esti gives Lili her son to care for as they flee. It’s heartbreaking, yet necessary and mother’s everywhere will weep at her situation.
This story is an ode to friendship; it’s heartwarming, heartbreaking, redemptive and beautifully written.
Quotes I liked:
Her old life—the one she led before the war—is gone. There’s no going back.”
“Loneliness wraps around her like a corset, siphoning away her hopes, her strength, the air in her lungs. … if only the ache of missing grew fainter, rather than deeper over time.”
