The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer

☆☆☆☆☆
Kindle Edition, 448 pages
Expected publication: March 19th 2019 by HARLEQUIN - Graydon House
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.

Kelly Rimmer is truly a gifted author and always manages to blow me away. In The Things We Cannot Say she manages to combine historical fiction, women’s fiction, mystery and even a touch of romance— and she does it brilliantly. This novel is captivating, fascinating and most of all, inspiring (and very loosely based on the story of her family). This is the kind of book that stays with you, I haven’t gotten these characters out of my head, a true testament to amazing writing. The compelling and well-crafted storyline was well researched and impeccably detailed.

I was quickly immersed in her tale and so fully invested and simpatico with her characters that I found myself feeling what they were. I seldom read historical fiction, although I will readily consider the genre when strong female characters are featured. And this story had many of them.

This book was wonderful. With a WWII setting, there were elements of familial relationships and secrets. This story was very well written and captured me from the first page. A perfect blend of women's literature and historical fiction, I have been singing it's praises far and wide since I finished this one, it's that epic.

Thank you NetGalley, HARLEQUIN - Graydon House and Kelly Rimmer for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an impartial review; all opinions are my own.

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