

Slipping between Nazi-occupied Poland and the frenetic pace of modern life, Kelly Rimmer creates an emotional and finely wrought narrative. But for now, even deafening silence is preferable to grief. 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. Then, as the fabric of their lives is slowly picked apart, Tomasz disappears.

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. 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. Since she was nine years old, Alina Dziak knew she would marry her best friend, Tomasz. It’s a decision that will alter her destiny…and it’s a lie that will remain buried until the next century. Just beyond the tents of the refugee camp she calls home, a young woman speaks her wedding vows.

In 1942, Europe remains in the relentless grip of war. ” -Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author “Fans of The Nightingale and Lilac Girls will adore The Things We Cannot Say. From the 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.
