The Things We Cannot Say

Poland, 1942. In a refugee camp near the tents that have become home, a young woman recites her wedding vows. The choice will shape the rest of her life, and the falsehood at its heart stays hidden for decades, well into the next century. Alina Dziak has promised herself to Tomasz, her closest friend, since she was nine. Now fifteen and engaged, she brushes off rumors of Nazi soldiers near the border, trusting her neighbors who say the danger is exaggerated. She spends her days imagining the moment Tomasz comes home from his studies in Warsaw and they can wed.

The occupation tightens gradually, through one act of cruelty after another, and her small rural village splits apart under fear and hatred. As the threads of ordinary life unravel, Tomasz vanishes. Alina, who once counted the time between his visits, now counts the stretches between hope and despair. She waits for any word from him while keeping away from the soldiers patrolling her parents' farm. Silence hurts, but it still feels easier to bear than grief.

Kelly Rimmer, author of Before I Let You Go and The Warsaw Orphan, moves between occupied Poland and the present day in this emotional World War II novel. It explores how damaging it is when the truth is suppressed, and how long it can take a person to find their own voice and learn to trust it.

Rimmer's newest novel, The Story Keeper, is a family drama about deep secrets, with a book-within-a-book mystery at its center. Her other novels include Truths I Never Told You, The German Wife and The Paris Agent.