From the Bookshelf of Aussie Readers…

The Things We Cannot Say

Kelly Rimmer

Start date: April 1, 2021

Finish date: April 30, 2021

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Sep 12, 2021 Kate Forsyth rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical, australian-author

In her new novel, Kelly Rimmer weaves together two first-person points-of-view. One is set now, and the other in Poland during the terrible years of the Nazi occupation. I love dual timeline novels, but usually I prefer the story set in the past. This book is so perfectly balanced and the contemporary voice so strong and real, that I found myself loving both.

In the story set now, Alice has devoted her life to caring for her son, Eddie, who has autism spectrum disorder. She has put aside her own In her new novel, Kelly Rimmer weaves together two first-person points-of-view. One is set now, and the other in Poland during the terrible years of the Nazi occupation. I love dual timeline novels, but usually I prefer the story set in the past. This book is so perfectly balanced and the contemporary voice so strong and real, that I found myself loving both.

In the story set now, Alice has devoted her life to caring for her son, Eddie, who has autism spectrum disorder. She has put aside her own plans and, indeed, her own needs, to make sure that he is safe and managing the best he can in a world that overwhelms him. But Alice’s beloved grandmother is dying, and she has made one last request of Alice. Go to Poland, she says. Or, at least, that is what Alice thinks she says. Her grandmother has lost the ability to speak, due to a stroke, and Alice must try to understand what her Babcia wants, just as she is constantly struggling to understand her son.

Babcia has a box of memories: an old photograph, a baby’s shoe, and a letter. These are the only clues Alice has to find out what happened to her grandmother so long ago in Poland.

The story moves back then to 1942, where Alina is a young woman in love. But the German invasion turns her life upside-down. Tomasz, her betrothed, is trapped in Warsaw and Alina and her family are struggling just to survive. Slowly the two stories unspool, the dramatic tension increasing until I could not tear myself away from the pages. Alina’s fear and her bravery, her grief and her resolve, made her a very sympathetic heroine and I was so hoping all would work out for her and Tomasz.

It was Alice’s story that surprised me the most, however. Her quest to help her grandmother, her love for her family, and the way she grew over the course of the narrative was so moving, I ended the book with a great big lump in my throat. Cleverly constructed and beautifully written, this is a book that deserves to win a great many accolades and a wide audience. ...more

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Apr 28, 2024 Rhoda rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Told as a dual timeline, this story has two heroines. At the onset of WWII Alina lives a simple life in the Polish countryside. She has grown up with the love of her life Tomasz and until the occupation of Poland, had her life mapped out. In the current day, Alice has the world on her shoulders. Her seven year old son Eddie is on the autism spectrum and is nonverbal, her husband is not the biggest support and to top it all off, her beloved Babcia is dying.

When Alice’s grandmother tasks her with ...more

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May 26, 2019 Nicola Marsh added it

Shelves: aussie-authors, women-s-fiction, commercial-fiction, read-in-2019

Another page-turner!

I loved the WW2 story of Alina and her struggles in Poland, and enjoyed Alice's current day struggles with her autistic son and gifted daughter.

The dual timelines are interwoven beautifully. ...more

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