Book Review and Giveaway: The Things We Cannot Say

By Jami Deise

Kelly Rimmer’s novel about two sisters dealing with opioid addiction, Before I Let You Go, was one of my favorite books of 2018 (see my review). I was surprised to hear that she followed up that contemporary sociological portrait with an historical fiction offering, but I was so impressed with her writing, I had to take a look. It was not a wasted read by any means. Even though the two books are so different that it’s almost a surprise they were written by the same author, they are both extraordinary novels.

If you loved Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale, Rimmer’s The Things We Cannot Say is a must-read. It begins in the Soviet Union in 1942, as the narrator marries Tomasz Slaski in a refugee camp – hardly the wedding she’d imagined to her childhood sweetheart. In present-day Florida, Alice deals with a meltdown from her son Eddie, who is on the autism spectrum and non-verbal. The meltdown makes her late in visiting her grandmother Hanna, who’s had a stroke that has left her non-verbal as well. In fact, the only way Alice’s “Babcia” can communicate is with Eddie’s Augmentative and Alternative Communication app. Frantic and seemingly aware that her time is short, Babcia is suddenly desperate for Alice to go to her native Poland and research people Alice has never heard of. Her grandfather, Tomasz, is on that list, which is confusing… Tomasz died of dementia a year ago. Why is he on the list?

I’ve read many historical novels that alternate between a World War past and a modern present, and I’ve almost always found myself bored with the less-than-life-threatening dilemmas of the modern-day protagonist. That was not the case in Rimmer’s novel, as Alice’s devotion to Eddie and the enormity of his needs are an overwhelming, heartbreaking challenge for the sympathetic mom. In the past, Alina is a teenage girl in newly occupied Poland, pining for her love Tomasz who has gone off to college, and avoiding work around her family’s small farm. When the Nazis come, her life is turned upside down in an instant.

Both of these first-person narrators are so well-drawn, readers will feel a pang of regret each time the narration changes. And the mysteries begin right away: Is Alina Alice’s grandmother, even though Alice’s Babcia is named Hanna? If so, how do Alina and Tomasz find their way back to each other? We already have Alice’s assurance that her grandfather Tomasz died only a year ago, so what is the mystery there?

The Things We Cannot Say kept me up all night reading, and then it broke my heart twice over. It also served as a prescient reminder, in the form of a line from Tomasz, reminding his wife that they must always remain vigilant, because the Holocaust also began with little slights and annoyances.

Kudos to Kelly Rimmer. I look forward to reading everything else she ever writes.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for the book in exchange for an honest review. They have one copy to give away!

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Giveaway ends March 20th at midnight EST.


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