The Things We Cannot Say | Book Review + Giveaway

ABOUT THE BOOK

In 1942, Europe remains in the relentless grip of war. Just beyond the tents of the Russian refugee camp she calls home, a young woman speaks her wedding vows. It’s a decision that will alter her destiny…and it’s a lie that will remain buried until the next century.

Since she was nine years old, Alina Dziak knew she would marry her best friend, Tomasz. Now fifteen and engaged, Alina is unconcerned by reports of Nazi soldiers at the Polish border, believing her neighbors that they pose no real threat, and dreams instead of the day Tomasz returns from college in Warsaw so they can be married. But little by little, injustice by brutal injustice, the Nazi occupation takes hold, and Alina’s tiny rural village, its families, are divided by fear and hate. Then, as the fabric of their lives is slowly picked apart, Tomasz disappears. Where Alina used to measure time between visits from her beloved, now she measures the spaces between hope and despair, waiting for word from Tomasz and avoiding the attentions of the soldiers who patrol her parents’ farm. But for now, even deafening silence is preferable to grief.

Slipping between Nazi-occupied Poland and the frenetic pace of modern life, Kelly Rimmer creates an emotional and finely wrought narrative that weaves together two women’s stories into a tapestry of perseverance, loyalty, love and honor. The Things We Cannot Say is an unshakable reminder of the devastation when truth is silenced…and how it can take a lifetime to find our voice before we learn to trust it.

Publisher: Graydon House

Release Date: March 19, 2019

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MY REVIEW

In the present, Alice must navigate the complications of family life involving an autistic son, a gifted daughter, and a husband more focused on work than family. When her beloved, in-poor-health grandmother requests that she travel to Poland, she has difficult decisions to make.

In the past, Alina’s chief concern is the time spent apart from her fiancé Tomasz. Until the Nazis quickly change that. The injustice of war alters how Alina sees her future, and survival brings with it a number of challenges.

As these two storylines intertwine in The Things We Cannot Say, Kelly Rimmer delivers a story full of courage, strength, loyalty, honor, and love. With mystery, romance, and family dynamics, it’s a captivating and emotional novel, and I enjoyed it immensely. To readers of historical fiction, I recommend it.

★★★★

Thanks to TLC Book Tours, I received a complimentary copy of The Things We Cannot Say and the opportunity to provide an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review, and all the opinions I have expressed are my own.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kelly Rimmer is the USA Today best selling author of contemporary fiction novels including Me Without You, The Secret Daughter, When I Lost You, A Mother’s Confession and her most recent release, Before I Let You Go. She lives in rural Australia with her family.

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