About the Book
Ferrara, Italy. 1940. Lili Passigli is studying at the University of Ferrara when Mussolini’s Racial Laws deem her of ‘inferior’ Jewish descent. As Hitler’s strength, Lili’s world begins to shrink around her, with the papers awash in Fascist propaganda and the city walls desecrated with anti-semitic slurs. When Germany invades northern Italy, Lili and her best friend Esti find themselves on their own in Nazi-occupied territory.
With the help of the resistance, they flee with Esti’s two-year-old son, Theo, in tow, facing a harrowing journey south toward the Allies and freedom. On this trek through war-torn Italy, they will face untold challenges and devastating decisions.
Format: Hardcover (432 pages) Publisher: Allison & Busby
Publication date: 22nd May 2025 Genre: Historical Fiction
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My Review
I’ve read a lot of historical fiction set in WW2 but not, I think, any which explores the experience of Italians, especially Jewish Italians. One Good Thing fills that gap and it taught me a lot about what it felt like to live in Italy during the period of the war.
I admired Lili for her determination to fulfil her promise to her friend Esti and her dedication to keeping Esti’s son, Theo, safe. I would have liked to know more about how they became such close friends. It did feel rather presented to the reader as established fact. However, I loved Lili’s close relationship with her father and welcomed the moments when she revealed memories of her childhood. In fact, I would have liked more of her back story.
Although there was a lot I enjoyed about the book, there were a few things that didn’t quite work for me, such as the occasional use of modern day, often American-sounding phrases, such as ‘You okay, kiddo’ or ‘It’s a lot to process’. (Perhaps these were amended before the final version.) I found it difficult to believe in Theo as a two or three-year-old; his behaviour and vocabularly seemed that of an older child. Although having many dramatic moments, the book felt slow-paced and drawn out. However, it did pick up in the final part of the book. I wasn’t a great fan of the romance introduced towards the end of the book which felt quite predictable.
Despite these reservations, One Good Thing definitely has more than one good thing going for it. I felt it really captured the reality of life for people displaced and separated by war, and the uncertainty of what each day might bring. In particular, how do you explain it all to a young child, separated from his mother and forced into hiding? Lili’s journey across a war-torn Italy, tired, hungry and living from day to day, felt very authentic, as was her dawning realisation of the horrors inflicted on Jewish people, and others, by the Nazi regime.
I received a review copy courtesy of Allison & Busby via NetGalley.
In three words: Dramatic, emotional, authentic
About the Author
Georgia Hunter comes from a family of Holocaust survivors. We Were the Lucky Ones was born of her quest to uncover her family’s staggering history. It has since been published in twenty languages and adapted into a critically acclaimed TV series. One Good Thing is her second novel. She lives in Connecticut, USA. (Photo: Goodreads author page)
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