My rating: 5/5
Heartwarmingly rich and profound, The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer nestles the reader into a story woven with the intricacies of a surfaced family secret, complex marriage and family dynamics, and the recounting of suffering and courage during the brutality of World War II.
Alice Michaels is inundated with her daily duties as a stay-at-home wife and Mother. At times she finds herself struggling to tackle the growing demands of being a mother to a young son on the autism scale and to a daughter who is intellectually gifted, while navigating a complex marriage with a husband who is always busy with work. A shift in her daily life occurs, when she is implored by her beloved grandmother to embark on a trip to Poland, to discover unanswered questions that will essentially uncover aspects of her family history that will be significantly life defining.
Young Alina Dziak lived a comfortably content life as the youngest sibling in a family of six, with adoring and supportive parents. Surrounded not only by the unconditional love of her family, but she is also swathed in the love of her best friend, Tomasz, whom she knows is the love of her life. As they get older, their love becomes unquenchable. Before the emergence of the Nazi takeover in Poland, Tomasz departs for college, leaving Alina with the hopefulness of his eventual return. However, with the brutal Nazi invasion of Poland comes starvation, murder, and the birth of a constant fear and hope of Tomasz’s safe return. Grievous events occur from the growing brutality of the Nazi control that provokes a vow of loyalty from Alina that will impact her life and the lives of the future generations in her family.
“Life has a way of shattering our expectations, of leaving our hopes in pieces without explanation. But when there’s love in a family, the fragments left behind from our shattered dreams can always be pulled together again, even if the end result is a mosaic”. –The Things We Cannot Say.
An unforgettable tale, The Things We Cannot Say speaks to the heart of the reader through captivating characters, a notable plot, and appealing themes. There are descriptive settings, as the novel features a dual timeline narrative, intermittently changing from 1942 Poland and modern-day Florida. Although the novel does not feature a racially diverse cast of characters, the story includes a character with a developmental disorder that adds a well-developed distinctive layer to the tale. The novel features a multifaceted storyline that keeps the reader readily engaged. There is a bit of a coming-of-age aspect to Alina’s storyline, a family mystery that Alice undercovers, and a charming love story. I was pleased that this novel has a clean storyline, with no profanity, explicit sexual scenes, or gore. Faith in God was briefly mentioned in the plot, which was encouraging and delightful to read. Undoubtedly a five-star read, I absolutely loved this story, and I highly recommend it to others.
#Historicalfiction #fiction #WorldWarII #Romance
