The Things We Cannot Say: A WWII Historical Fiction Novel

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

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432 pages

Average rating: 8.67

600 RATINGS

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20 REVIEWS

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Community Reviews

AnneMercer
Sep 14, 2024
9/10 stars
Highly recommend. I hold my 10 out of 10s dear so this is a high rating for me. This is a book that carries two storylines in the present and WWII Poland. I tend to like this but I know some readers do not. I recommend this book to personal and book club readers.
Anonymous
Aug 31, 2024
8/10 stars
I should have known and passed on this book. I overloaded on WWII books awhile back and struggle to get through them. I get very weary of the hate, struggle and hardships the Jews and those who tried to help them endured. The utter cruelty and evil that humans inflict upon other humans is beyond comprehension. Hence, my unfavorable opinion of this book. Actually, it’s a very good book but I am still too weary of the content to have enjoyed or appreciated it. And what has recently occurred in Israel with the cold blooded terrorist attack by hamas, I just wanted this book to end.
ChristyGo
Apr 26, 2024
10/10 stars
👍👍
Valarie
Apr 26, 2024
10/10 stars
I'd put this cleaver book up there on my list of Historical Fiction wwII favorites next to Lilac Girls and The Nightingale?
Anonymous
Apr 25, 2024
10/10 stars
I cried. I finished this book before going to bed and it was so hard falling asleep. I love a good book that makes me feel this way. I love how it made me feel.. human.

It is a story of war and love. A story of 2 different generations, taking us back from the past in the life of Alina to the future in the life of "Babcia" or Hanna. What hardships she had to endure from the war and the love of Tomasz as he made sacrifices in order to keep Alina safe was so heartbreaking I could not stop the tears from rolling down.

If you love The Nightingale, you will love this book. I highly recommend it.

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