Book Review – One Good Thing by Georgia Hunter

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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

Find One Good Thing on Goodreads

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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)

Connect with Georgia
Website | Instagram

My Bookish Goals For 2025 – Mid-Year Check-in #TuesdayBookBlog

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At the beginning of the year I set ten goals for myself and thought it was time to have a look back at them to see how I’m getting on.

  1. Achieve my Goodreads goal of reading 104 books – I’ve read 47 books so far this year meaning I’m 4 books behind schedule
  2. Read more of the books I already own, including:
    • at least 20 books that have been in my TBR pile for longer than two years, i.e. January 2023 or prior – I’ve only read 4 so far
    • the 5 remaining books on my Backlist Burrow list, a challenge I started in 2023 but have made little progress with – still no progress
  3. Attend Henley Literary Festival and at least one other literary event – I attended the Borders Book Festival in Melrose for the first time this year. Henley Literary Festival takes place in October
  4. Complete the When Are You Reading? Challenge – see my sign-up post here – and Historical Fiction Reading Challenge – see my sign-up post here – I’ve matched 9 of the 12 time periods for the When Are You Reading? Challenge and read 29 books for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge (target 50)
  5. Complete the What’s in a Name Challenge – see my sign-up post here – I’ve only been able to match 2 of the 6 categories so far
  6. Read all the books on The Walter Scott Prize 2025 longlist before the shortlist is announced – I didn’t manage to do this but I did read all the shortlisted book before the winner was announced. And I was there at the Borders Book Festival when it was!
  7. Reach the point where I’m read and reviewing every book on my NetGalley shelf in advance of publication – Not yet managing to do this consistently although my feedback ratio is 97%
  8. Take part in a reading challenge I haven’t done before. I signed up for Nonfiction Reader Challenge hosted by Shellyrae at Book’d Out and I’ve read 2 books (target 3)
  9. Finally bite the bullet and update my blog’s theme Pretty obvious I haven’t got around to this yet
  10. Embrace audiobooks and aim to listen to one per month – I haven’t quite managed one per month but I’ve listened to 5 so far this year with one more in progress

If you set yourself any bookish goals this year, how are you getting on?