Author Georgia Hunter answers audience questions in Oglethorpe’s Earl Dolive Theatre.

Oglethorpe University recently teamed up with Atlanta’s A Capella Books to host national bestselling author Georgia Hunter for a discussion about her debut novel, We Were the Lucky Ones.

The granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, Hunter didn’t learn of her Jewish heritage from her family until she was 15 years old. She became fascinated with the mysteries in her family tree. But, it wasn’t until years later, that her fascination began to coalesce into a potential body of work after hearing her grandfather and his family’s firsthand accounts of World War II at a family reunion in 2000.

“Armed with a digital voice recorder and a moleskin notebook, I set off to unearth and record my family’s story,” Hunter says of her long process of researching and writing her family’s past. “I spent nearly a decade traversing the globe, interviewing family and digging up records from every possible source I could think of, eventually piecing together the bones of what would become my novel.”

Oglethorpe’s Earl Dolive Theatre was packed with OU students, Atlanta community members, and even many of Hunter’s own friends and family—all eager to learn more about We Were the Lucky Ones. Hunter’s presentation included exclusive photos of her family members mentioned in the novel and tips on how to research one’s own hidden family history.

During her talk, it was also revealed that We Were the Lucky Ones had just been listed #5 on The New York Times Best Sellers list!  Afterwards, the author graciously stayed to mingle with the crowd and sign copies of her book.

Follow Georgia Hunter on Instagram or Twitter, and learn more about We Were the Lucky Ones at the author’s website.