The Lucky Ones

“A harrowing survivor’s tale, an important history lesson, and a desperate warning from someone who has seen the tragic effects of ethnic violence.”—Time

“The Lucky Ones is a unique memoir in English of this largest-ever massacre in independent India. It is also about a communal crisis bringing a fractured family together. A must-read in our warring world today.”—NPR

“Chowdhary[‘s] Muslim memoir is her survivor’s song. As a writer, she’s a keen student of Anne Frank, Ta-Nehisi Coates and Marjane Satrapi—memoirists whose seminal works are also masterpieces of political and national history.”—The Washington Post

“The Lucky Ones is a profound reflection of identity, belonging, and the human condition.”—Salil Tripathi, author of the forthcoming The Gujaratis (Aleph, 2024)

“Easily the best memoir coming out of South Asia in recent years, The Lucky Ones is essential reading for anyone who loves great writing, told true and straight as an arrow to the heart.”—Suketu Mehta, author of Pulitzer Finalist Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found

“The Lucky Ones is proof that it is in the voice of a minority population that a nation is revealed.”—Kiran Desai, Booker Prize winning author of The Inheritance of Loss

“A warning, thrown to the world, and a stunning debut—Chowdhary is a much-needed new voice.”—Alexander Chee, author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel

“An astonishing feat of storytelling, an urgent reckoning with a past that feels all too present, and a moving ode to the women in her family, Chowdhary’s memoir is one that should and will haunt you.”—Nicole Chung, author of A Living Remedy

“The Lucky Ones by Zara Chowdhary is a lacerating, gorgeous, unsettling recuperation of national memory from the forces of oblivion.”—Kazim Ali, author of Northern Light: Power, Land, and the Memory of Water

“The Lucky Ones is a necessary, deep reckoning with history, identity, and violence. This memoir will break your heart and then repair it.”—Beth Nguyen, author of Owner of a Lonely Heart

“Blending lyrical writing and investigative reports, this is a necessary read—especially in these times of Islamophobia and genocide.”—Lamya H, author of Hijab Butch Blues

“The Lucky Ones is an act of urgent political witness, a refusal to allow the brutalities of twenty years ago to be forgotten—and repeated—today.”—Tessa Hulls, author of Feeding Ghosts

“An exceptional portrait of resilience in the face of unfathomable cruelty. This is difficult to forget.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
 
“This is reading fire in your hands. Do not miss it.”—Booklist, starred review

“A tight, suspenseful narrative that interweaves one girl’s keen observations of family within India’s problematic history.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)