Title: THE THINGS WE CANNOT SAY
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
"War breaks us down to nothing more than our most selfish will to survive - but when we rise above that instinct, miracles can still happen."
Book Description:
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.
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.
What attracted me to this book:
I love historical fiction set around WWII and always feel
drawn to stories exploring this topic. However, I have found that this time
period has become popular lately, and that a lot of books promising wartime
premises have been romances in disguise, or have been so sloppily researched
that they ended up in disappointment, which is why I have been steering clear
of them. I wouldn’t have picked this book up if it hadn’t been a buddy read on
Instagram, and I am so glad that I did!
My musings:
THE THINGS WE CANNOT SAY uses a popular format to tell a
tragic story that played out during war-torn Poland – a dual timeline. In the
present, Alice is a young woman whose grandmother has been hospitalised after
suffering a stroke, leaving her unable to communicate. Through an electronic
device Alice’s autistic son uses to convey messages, her grandmother makes it
clear that she is desperate for Alice to go to Poland, the land of her birth,
to find people from her past. But who? And why?
In the second timeline, we get to know Alina, who is a young
woman growing up in Poland at the start of WWII. She is in love with Tomasz,
her childhood friend, whom she is planning to marry and start a family with. But
the occupation of Poland by the Nazis sets an end to all Alina’s plans, and she
is soon finding herself fighting for her life.
Dual timelines always carry the danger that one is more compelling
than the other, but this was not a problem here as I found myself quickly drawn
to both women characters and invested in their fates. Rimmer beautifully paints
the love between grandmother and granddaughter, setting Alice off on a journey
that will unearth family secrets noone has ever spoken about. It also
demonstrates the effects of trauma on future generations, especially the
children of wartime survivors, who often had no idea of the suffering their
parents had endured.
Rimmer skilfully conjures up a war-torn Poland and the sense
of urgency and danger many people in Alina’s situation found themselves in. As
history marches remorselessly on, the atmosphere of the story became more and
more claustrophobic and tense, making me fear for Alina’s life. As Rimmer
slowly unravelled the surprise she had in store for her readers and for Alice’s
family, some things at the beginning of the story suddenly fell into place.
Summary:
THE THINGS WE CANNOT SAY contained everything I love about
well-written historical fiction. It is well researched, starring well-drawn
characters with deeply emotional connections that soon wove their way into my
heart. Each woman bravely faces the obstacles in their lives, buoyed by love
for their families. If you have been put off by recent “popcorn-reads”
featuring a WWII setting, rest assured that this book has the kind of emotional
depth and historical accuracy that made it impossible to put it down. Highly
recommended to lovers of the genre and anyone looking for a story featuring
courageous female protagonists and family secrets connected to WWII.
I do have this on my wishlist, thanks for sharing your thoughts
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