Release Day! The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer ~ My Thoughts #TheThingsWeCannotSay

Congrats Kelly
on the release today of 
The Things We Cannot Say!

The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer
Print and e-book, 432 pages
Published March 19th 2019 by Graydon House

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.

My thoughts about The Things We Cannot Say ~~

(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first lines.)

First line—"The priest presiding over my wedding was half-starved, half-frozen and wearing rags but he was resourceful; he'd blessed a chuck of moldy bread from breakfast to serve as a communion wafer."

I seem to be reading a lot of historical fiction lately, in particular stories set in the World War 2 era. And I have been loving them all. This time period is so interesting to me.

The Things We Cannot Say takes the reader on an emotional and heartbreaking, but beautiful, story that demonstrates the strength and stamina of the people who lived and loved in those times. I found myself wrapped up in the lives of Alina and Tomasz, feeling their love, their pain at separation, and their dedication to one another, over a whole lifetime.

I loved this story so much and it is one I will not soon forget―a beautiful love story on so many levels, that slowly unfolds as the characters come to realize who and what is important to them. The author truly weaves an amazing story of love and sacrifice.

I received an ARC of The Things We Cannot Say in exchange for my honest review. 

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I've read another one of Kelly's books, Before I Let You Go and I loved it as well.

You can read my thoughts here.

About the Author

Kelly Rimmer is the USA Today bestselling women’s fiction author of five novels, including Me Without You and The Secret Daughter. Her most recent release is Before I Let You Go. She lives in rural Australia with her husband, 2 children and fantastically naughty dogs, Sully and Basil. Her novels have been translated into more than 20 languages.  ~ Goodreads

Connect with Kelly

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