The Things We Cannot Say - Kelly Rimmer

The Things We Cannot Say

By Kelly Rimmer

  • Release Date: 2019-03-19
  • Genre: Historical Fiction
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 3,334 Ratings

Description

The New York Times bestseller—for fans of All the Light We Cannot See and The Tattooist of Auschwitz!

From the bestselling author of Truths I Never Told You, Before I Let You Go, and the The Warsaw Orphan, Kelly Rimmer’s powerful WWII novel follows a woman’s urgent search for answers to a family mystery that uncovers truths about herself that she never expected.

“Fans of The Nightingale and Lilac Girls will adore The Things We Cannot Say.” —Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author

In 1942, Europe remains in the relentless grip of war. Just beyond the tents of the 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. 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.

Don’t miss Kelly Rimmer’s newest novel, The Paris Agent, where a family’s innocent search for answers brings a long-forgotten, twenty-five-year-old mystery featuring two female SOE operatives comes to light!
 
For more by Kelly Rimmer, look for Before I Let You Go Truths I Never Told You The Warsaw Orphan The German Wife The Midnight Estate (available July 22, 2025)

Reviews

  • Heartbreaking and Beautiful

    5
    By Bridge T.
    Absolutely beautiful historical novel that brought me to tears. Must read this was by far the best book I have read in a long time.
  • Hard to put in words. Incredible story.

    5
    By CarlyM15
    I rarely give 5 stars. This was an incredible story. The two time periods didn’t seem forced. Both main characters were wonderfully written and about and interesting.
  • Sobbing in my bed at 11:59 on a Monday night.

    5
    By tristaab
    Read it.
  • Tragic love story

    5
    By Kelly R. 318
    This story of family, faith and love was enrapturing and heart breaking! This story was very well written and painted a very good picture of the landscape, and the emotional heartaches that WWII brought onto so many innocent families and the physical and mental strength required to survive.
  • The Things We Must Read

    5
    By Ms. OCDemon
    I loved this book! I enjoy historical fiction and this book did not disappoint! The crossover from past to present and back and forth was very well done in my opinion. In addition, including raising an autistic child with all the love, challenges and beautiful experiences that go along with that was very touching as well.
  • One of the better subplots I’ve read in a while…

    5
    By B4reel
    Has to do with a family grappling with the challenges of a special needs child and the tolls it takes. The extremes to which Alice’s emotions swung, as it relates to Eddie, felt very real and the “Mom-guilt” equally suffocating. More than anything, this book felt like a very long love-letter that pulled the reader in, page by page.
  • Wonderful book

    5
    By Kdemetris
    So well written! Thoroughly enjoyed!
  • Things we should say

    5
    By Mander5392
    An incredible, yet so realistic story of a time when humans were showing their worst side. If we just looked around us today, we can tell the lessons were never learned. Maybe it’s because not enough people are reading books like this one. My most sincere congratulations to the author for her contribution to memories that must never be lost.
  • Horrible

    1
    By Chloe roberson
    No hate it freak it
  • Excellent

    5
    By bosser3
    This is a very well written book, loved it from beginning to end. Excellent read.