Ellen Umansky has published fiction and nonfiction in a variety of venues, including the New York Times, Salon, Playboy, and the short-story anthologies Lost Tribe: Jewish Fiction from the Edge and Sleepaway: Writings on Summer Camp. She has worked in the editorial departments of several publications, including the Forward, Tablet and The New Yorker. She grew up in Los Angeles, and lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two daughters.
"A subtle, emotionally layered novel about the ways art and other objects of beauty can make tangible the invisible, undocumented moments in our lives, the portion of experience that exists without an audience but must be preserved if we are to remain whole." -- New York Times Book Review "Must-read." -- Town & Country "Umansky's richly textured and peopled novel tells an emotionally and historically complicated story with so much skill and confidence it's hard to believe it's her first." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "The restitution of art works stolen by the Nazis provides the background for this debut novel...Umansky shrewdly avoids letting the issue of stolen art crowd out other aspects of the story, to which she gives a feminist tilt." -- The New Yorker "Umansky's multilayered novel asks the big questions -- who are we and who are the people we love? What can we, and what should we, forgive? How does history write itself on our lives and our society? -- with compassion, tenderness, and a deft touch." -- Hanya Yanagihara, author of A Little Life "Ellen Umansky is an absurdly gifted writer, and her masterful debut is so smart, so compelling, so emotionally and intellectually and morally complex, it will make you see the world in a completely different way. I loved, loved, loved this book." -- Joanna Rakoff, internationally bestselling author of My Salinger Year "THE FORTUNATE ONES is like the melody of a song that you can't forget. Its marvelous, utterly human characters will stay with you. In a story that spans decades and continents, Umansky takes readers on a journey that both challenges and affirms our notions of love, art, family, and sacrifice." -- David Gillham, New York Times bestselling author of City of Women "The Kindertransport, the recovery of Nazi-looted art, family ties, and adjustments to great loss...in Umansky's first novel, they're brought together in an original and tremendously moving way...[Umansky] sensitively addresses the complicated issue of survivor's guilt and leaves readers with a sense of hope." -- Booklist (starred review) "THE FORTUNATE ONES is a riveting, page-turning novel that investigates the true price of art and love and history. It is both magnificent in its sweep and intimate in its telling. And the end? It will take your breath away. Three cheers for Ellen Umansky's perfect debut." -- Jennifer Gilmore, author of The Mothers "THE FORTUNATE ONES is a rich and engaging debut. Ellen Umansky skillfully transports readers on from war-torn Vienna and London to present day Los Angeles and the journey is intriguing, memorable and worthwhile." -- Pam Jenoff, internationally bestselling author of The Orphan's Tale "[A] gripping mystery about the fate of one painting and the two very different women who've spent their lives mourning its loss...A lush, haunting debut." -- Anna Solomon, author of Leaving Lucy Pear "With remarkable elegance and electric prose, Ellen Umansky has written a brilliant novel... I stayed up all night reading this book and it left me weeping, in awe of her gifts and, more than anything, so lucky to be alive." -- Joanna Hershon, author of A Dual Inheritance "[R]emarkable...One of Umansky's many gifts to her lucky readers is the ability to illuminate the truly transcendent powers of art, but also its inherent shortcomings in the face of devastating loss. This is a stirring and ultimately uplifting debut." -- Helen Schulman, internationally bestselling author of This Beautiful Life "The characters in Ellen Umansky's beautiful novel are haunted not only by loss but by the way one loss bleeds into another and reshapes the world... A profound and moving exploration of sorrow and reconciliation." -- Jonathan Rosen, author of Joy Comes in the Morning
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