Before I get too far ahead of myself, I want to say that Kelly Rimmer’s The Things We Cannot Say got under my skin. I’m convinced those who bore witness took the audible exasperations I uttered at my kindle while reading this book as inarguable confirmation of my own insanity, but Rimmer’s portrait of Alice’s family life is so tangibly poignant that I couldn’t help myself. Powerful writing inspires response and there’s simply no denying that Rimmer’s mastery of language and gift for storytelling demands such in spades.

Having said this, I want to address the question I hope you’re all asking yourself at this point: Who in all hell is Alice?

I swear on all the goodness of coffee, the only stimulant in my system is caffeine. I’ve not lost it and neither have you. Marketing, for some reason known only to the gods of publishing, released this book with a description that fails to note the novel’s second narrator. Half of this book, arguably the more compelling and emotional half, centers on a modern marriage struggling to cope in the face of spousal resentment, poor communication, and the challenges of raising a child with autism.

It’s compelling material, to say the least, it’s beautifully drawn, and it looks like it’d shelf nicely alongside Rimmer’s backlist of contemporary women’s fiction. My problem and I stress this is my problem as it has more to do with my tastes than any perceived flaw, is that Alina’s storyline did not read with the same authenticity or depth as Alice’s. All the working parts are in place, but the historic presentation felt mechanical in nature and rather pale alongside the emotional drama of the contemporary storyline.

Now I don’t blame you for thinking I am a heartless critic at this point, but before you come to the wrong conclusion, understand that I came to this book for the historic content and left it feeling the history was the weakest part of the narrative. The Things We Cannot Say introduced me to an author with immense talent, but I can’t deny feeling misled into thinking the novel a heavier historical (thank you marketing!). I can definitely see myself recommending the book to fellow readers, but at the end of the day, that recommendation will cite Rimmer’s emotional rendering of women and their life experiences far more often than it will her illustration of Poland’s occupation.

I loved this book! Couldn't put it down! I read a lot of WWII historical fiction but found this one so unique in its combination of tragic circumstances with romance and hope. Alina's story is heartbreaking, but to watch her grow in strength and determination as she is faced with difficult choices made her an admirable character. Alice's story is equally poignant as she struggles in her marriage while raising one nonverbal child on the autism spectrum and one highly gifted child. The author's accurate portrayal of the family's struggles is appreciated and I love that she gave so much attention to detail when addressing their use of the child's communication device.
I'm a speech pathologist, so this really touched my heart. As questions of the family's history are answered, I found the resolution satisfying though heartwrenching.

Hasn’t it felt like there are just so many WW2 novels in recent months? Hard to know which ones are worth reading, I can honestly say this one is worth your time. I don’t like that the author chose to do a dual timeline. It’s a gimmick I think cheapens the novel, but I will say at least the modern day story was interesting/good. I especially like reading something that sheds light on something, in this case having a child on the Autism spectrum. This was perfect for Autism awareness month. The story in WW2 Poland was heartbreaking and told beautifully. It’s hard to wrap my brain around one Country invading another but Rimmer does a great job teaching us about the invasion without it seeming like we are in a History class.

I highly recommend.

Among my top favorite novels of 2019, The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer, is breathtakingly beautiful, painful, and yet, a tribute to love, honor and the human spirit. Rimmer’s story centers primarily on two generations of the same family. Alina’s story is set during the German’s occupation of Poland during WWII, and its impact on the Polish Christian population… it is a point of view that I’ve never encountered before, despite reading a great deal of historical fiction. The second storyline focuses on Alina’s granddaughter, married with two children, one of whom is challenged by being on the autism spectrum. Alina, close to death, sends her granddaughter on a quest that will change many lives forever.

Rimmer is a gifted writer who has created characters that are believable, authentic and memorable. Her descriptions of locale are so realistic that I can still close my eyes and picture the home and hill beyond. She seamlessly moves from one era to the other in what is a complicated plot, and then brings the story to a satisfying conclusion. I have already recommended this book to two of my closest friends!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin-Graydon Books for the opportunity to read an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review. It was a true pleasure.

The Things We Cannot Say is an amazing novel.I went into feeling that I'd really had my fill of WWII-era fiction, but this is simply stunning. It's romantic and raw, a story about the power of love and brutality of war (and of mankind). I'll be thinking about The Things We Cannot Say for ages. A great choice for readers and book clubs who enjoyed The Nightingale, adults and mature teens. Very highly recommended.

This book has utterly consumed me. I was hesitant as sometimes WII books can be so heartbreaking and difficult to read, but this book drew me in and didn't let me go. I enjoyed the dual timeline and Alice's story alongside Alina's. I loved how the author highlighted the best traits in humanity while highlighting a truly horrific period in history. This is my first Kelly Rimmer novel and I am thankful to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read such a well-written book. I will highly recommend this! 5 stars!

A young woman grapples with the reality of a war-torn country. Another young woman, decades later, receives a request that seems impossible to fulfill. Both women struggle with truths they can’t voice. Author Kelly Rimmer gives readers a relatable story with mostly endearing characters in her latest book, The Things We Cannot Say.

In Poland in the late 1930s, Alina Dziak doesn’t give much thought to serious matters; she doesn’t need to. Her parents and older siblings worry enough for all of them. She simply concerns herself with her childhood sweetheart, Tomasz, and trying her best to get out of chores around the farm. She doesn’t see the point in concerning herself with talk of the silly German soldiers who have arrived.

Soon, though, Alina and her family discover that the German soldiers aren’t posturing. They’ve come with a purpose and a frightening determination. Her twin brothers are conscripted to fight. Then Tomasz gets tapped to join the war efforts, and Alina believes life can’t get any worse.

Tomasz proposes and vows to come back alive and well so that they can begin life together. As the Germans continue to take over their land, however, Alina finds it harder to believe Tomasz can survive the horrors of war. Tragedy reveals itself multiple times, but the greatest one comes when Alina is faced with a terrible choice: leave Poland for her own safety, or stay for the well-being of others?

In 2019 in Florida, Alice Michaels struggles to help her children from one day to the next. Ten-year-old Callie has been identified as academically gifted and fights the slippery slope of schoolwork that doesn’t meet her needs. Seven-year-old Eddie deals with challenges on the other end: on the autism spectrum, Eddie doesn’t communicate with words. Alice loves her children with all her heart, but handling Eddie’s outbursts and frustrations is pushing her to a breaking point.

Her husband loves her but finds himself unable to get close to Eddie. A brilliant man himself, he’s uncomfortable with his Eddie, which upsets Alice. Little chips of resentment fleck their marriage. Even in the midst of his high-demand career in the plastics industry, he makes time for his daughter. Alice just wishes he’d do the same for his son.

It doesn’t help that her grandmother, Hanna, is in the hospital facing what doctors say may be her last days. Alice can’t stand the thought of losing the woman who practically raised her while her own mother pursued a demanding law career. When Alice visits Hanna, she’s overwhelmed by all that life is forcing her to accept. Then Hanna makes a request Alice can’t turn down: she wants Alice to travel to her European hometown to find someone for her.

Alice thinks of everything that could go wrong while she’s gone: Eddie could spend time in perpetual meltdowns. Callie might not get to all of her after-school activities on time. Her husband might forget to feed any of them, himself included. Worst of all: Hanna might die while she’s gone. Hanna’s desperate insistence that she make the trip, however, sways her, and Alice embarks on a trip that will change everyone.

Author Kelly Rimmer scores near perfect marks in every area of her novel. Alice’s daily ups and downs with Eddie will definitely resonate with readers who also have special needs family members. Much of what Alice has to say and feel about marriage and motherhood applies across the board, though, and any mother and wife will appreciate her candidness.

Alina’s storyline, too, will ring with authenticity. Unlike other World War II stories, Alina’s family isn’t Jewish. They don’t have to deal directly with German oppression, but that doesn’t mean they escape it. Rimmer reiterates for readers that Nazi occupation affected everyone who lived in the targeted countries, a refreshing reminder among the recent over-abundancy of books on the subject.

If the book needed fine-tuning, it could have come in Alice’s interactions with her family members. Early on, nearly every encounter she has with her daughter, her husband, and her mother come across as a little too dramatic. A more restrained approach would have brought those scenes back into line with the rest of the novel. Fortunately, the restraint appears later in the book, and readers, no doubt, will find themselves in tears even as they try to read as fast as possible to get to the resolution.

Fans of WWII fiction will definitely enjoy this story, but readers who enjoy strong characters and storylines in any genre will appreciate it as well. I recommend readers Bookmark The Things We Cannot Say.

From a young age, Alina knew she was destined to marry her best friend, Tomasz. When Tomasz is away at school, the Nazi's invade Poland, taking hold of her small town. When word comes that the Nazi's have taken Warsaw, Alina is terrified for Tomasz. In the present day, Alice is called to her dying grandmother's bedside. From bed, grandmother uses an program for Alices' autistic son to ask Alina to go to Poland. Despite her troubled marriage and special needs child, Alice travels to Poland, determined to find whatever it is her grandmother is looking for.

The book alternates between the present and the past. There was absolutely nothing in the description of the book about the alternating point of view. I found that to be extremely off-putting. I also felt that the present time-line was unnecessary. It added little to the story. Overall, a bust.

I mostly picked up this book because I liked the cover and thought it was going to be another WWII book that I might like.

As many of you know, I love war novels so I thought this was going to be one that would appeal to me for that reason alone. Plus I kept seeing it popping up on a number of other social media pages that I follow and I thought, ‘why not’ when it came up for review.

But in my mind, I wasn’t really sure that it was going to stand out at all. WWII is such a flooded genre and it’s sometimes hard to find a WWII novel that ‘stands out’, so basically I gave this book 50/50 odds that it was going to be a standout read for me.

Summary

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 (summary from Goodreads).

Review

I love when a book just takes hold of me and doesn’t let go. This was a book that I wasn’t terribly excited to read and honestly kind of blended in on my review schedule and wasn’t necessarily a ‘standout’ book that I was looking forward to. But when I picked it up, there was so much to love about this book and I was completely hooked and fell in love with many aspects of this story!

I haven’t read anything by this author before so I had nothing to gage this one on, but this book had so much to recommend itself. A love story, history, a little domestic drama, and of course an alternating time period narrative. I loved how this novel switched from past to present. It really kept the story moving for me.

This novel was en emotional, heavy hitting book! I wasn’t prepared for how much I loved it. Each part of the book (past and present) was well researched with the characters being fully realized and compelling. I loved reading both stories so much.

This book really looks at how war effects people, even long after it’s over. I think that was a very impactful perspective that really drove home the overall plot of this book. It was such an interesting theme and worked so well in this book.

It was a touching novel which just got me right in the feels. I don’t want to give away too much, because honestly this is the kind of book that you experience rather than read the reviews. Just trust me, this is a wonderful book that is well written, interesting, and will stay with you long after you finish. I know that I continue to think of the characters even now!

I am just completely blown away by what I just read. The raw emotion I felt while reading these words was so intense, at times I was a blubbering mess. Kelly Rimmer, you have written a remarkable novel that will defiantly stick with me!

The Things We Cannot Say is a unique combination of historical fiction and modern day life. We have two POV’s, one from Alina which is set during the 1940’s when Nazi was taking over Poland and each of her chapter’s broke my heart, I was so invested in Alina’s story. Then we have Alice who is dealing with a family heartache, her Babcia (grandmother) is sick and in the hospital, and you are taken through Alice’s day to day struggles of trying to be there for her special family but losing herself in the midst of all the chaos.

I haven’t read a book written like this in a long time, I love the way Rimmer has intertwined the lives of these two characters so beautifully. At first I wasn’t sure how they would relate to each other, but once I got to the end my heart was full and satisfied with how everything turned out. Even the title has great meaning, and fit this story perfectly.

I loved everything that The Things We Cannot Say had to offer. The characters, the remarkable story-telling, the powerful words. Every chapter had me hooked and I would stay up long after I should have been asleep just to read one more, I could not get enough!

Out of all the books I have read so far in 2019, if I had to recommend any of them, it would be this one. It needs to be read, and it’s one that will stick with me for a long time. I really can’t give enough praise for The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer!

This is the first book I read from Rimmer and I am mad that I have not read others before. The Things We Cannot Say was about two fierce and brave women from two different times trying to find themselves through a family secret. I love historical fiction based during WorldWar II, but this book was a little different than others that I have read before, it had a bit of mystery to it. Rimmer wrote a great story of bravery, resilience, and love. Alina and Alice were brave in their own ways, Alina is trying to survive occupied-Poland during World War II. She is trying to protect her family and finding her better half in this turmoil. Alice is a stay-at-home mom taking care of her autistic son, scientific husband and 10-year-old daughter. At the same time, her grandmother has fallen sick and is trying to learn more about her grandmother's past. 

Alina's story captured me in the beginning, while Alice's story was important, but I was not into it, until the middle of the book. Both stories then captivated me and I couldn't stop reading both of them. Alice is such a strong woman, I love how much she took care of Eddie, her son, while her husband was not the best. His character was not my favorite, even when he tried his best to make things better for everyone. Alina is just an amazing woman entirely! She sacrificed so much during the war to survive and protect so many people. Plus, her love for Tomasz was heartwarming in every way. Just to see young love while the Nazis are trying to ruin their home was a little warming. Alina and Tomasz's love for one another was truly heartfelt. 

What I love the most was that this story connected in some ways to her own personal family story. I have to say this book was very well-written and the story was painfully sad and loving at the same time. The love of family was all over this book, the love of protecting friends and sacrificing their lives showed bravery. Rimmer thank you for creating this story and sharing it. I cried a couple of times in this book. I 100% recommend this book. 

I received an advanced copy of this book from Harlequin - Graydon House Books through NetGalley.

Things We Cannot Say is told in two timelines, like many historical novels these days. The earlier timeline is set during WWII, and told from Alina’s perspective. Alina is in her late teens, living on a farm in Poland, where she and her family are trying to survive after the Nazi occupation. The second timeline is told from Alice’s perspective. While Alice tries to juggle a complicated family situation, her 95 year old grandmother Hannah asks her to go back to Poland to find Tomasc. This doesn’t make sense to Alice, because her grandfather Tomasc died of dementia the year before. So from the get go, it’s clear that there’s a mystery in Alice’s family that is linked to Alina’s story. I absolutely loved the historical part of the story. Alina and her family are great characters, and Rimner really captures the different emotions they experience as they try to survive in such a crazy upside down terrifying world. I wasn’t as enamoured of Alice’s story line, although I really liked her trip to Poland. There was a lot of drama and chaos in Alice’s life that didn’t seem entirely necessary to telling Alina’s story. I especially didn’t like the depiction of Alice’s mother, who is portrayed negatively as an older ambitious feminist, who is too consumed by her work to properly care for her mother Hannah or her daughter Alice. But this was still well worth reading for Alina’s story. I quickly guessed the mystery, but that’s besides the point. I felt that Rimner did a great job depicting the atrocities and courage that come with war. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy.

A fantastic WWII book set in both Poland and America. It’s a beautiful story about two interesting and strong women, Alice and Alina. The story was heartwarming and heart wrenching at the same time. I read a lot of historical fiction set in this time period. I appreciated that the story was set in Poland and was not centered on a Jewish family. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it gave a different perspective to the time period by focusing on a different class of people strongly affected by the war.

Y'all. This book. I had been looking forward to it for months & thought I was prepared but honestly, nothing could have prepared me for how unflinchingly real and honest and GOOD this book was. A must have addition to your shelves if you're a fan of WWII Historical Fiction!
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Alina was such a well drawn out character, and I couldn't get enough of her story. Even though she frustrated me so much at times, looking at it objectively (and with 20/20 hindsight), I think she is probably one of the more real portrayals of a girl growing up in that time. Alina is 15 when the Nazi invasion of Poland begins, and watching her come of age during this time - rebelling against her parents for their reluctance to share information about the atrocities surrounding her, learning how to endure indignity after indignity, and going from a naive farm girl to a determined (if not reluctant) member of the Polish resistance - was so moving. I loved her relationship with Tomasz, and watching their love story unfold and develop during wartime was full of heartbreak and hope and will remain with me for some time after finishing.
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And on a complete different scope, I thought the story of Alice navigating motherhood with her daughter's prodigious IQ and her son's autism was so beautifully done. I am grateful to the author for the glimpse into the joys and challenges of raising a child on the autism spectrum, and I appreciated what I was able to learn through this aspect of the story. Alice's relationship with her husband - the complexities, the frustration, the heartache, and the love; the enduring love - was done so well. I don't normally enjoy the present day storyline in dual timelines half as much as the past, but in this case I was just as anxious to get back to Alice's story as I was to get back to Alina.
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Thank you to Kelly Rimmer for this amazing book, and to Harlequin Books and Graydon House for the opportunity to read a digital version before publication date. This in no way affected my review of The Things We Cannot Say.

Ok, brace yourselves for a book review in which I rave and ramble and sing high praises.

Two strong women. Alina in Nazi-occupied Poland fighting to hold onto her life and her love. Alice in present-day fighting to keep the pieces of her messy, hectic life afloat. One remarkable, heartfelt, and beautiful story that was perfectly woven together.

Wow, just wow. You’re going to to want to keep a box of tissues nearby to make it through this one. One week after finishing it, I’m still a bit speechless. The Things We Cannot Say had all the things going for it. A totally fresh perspective on a commonly written about time period, captivating writing that grabs hold and doesn’t let go, seamless dual timelines, rich historical detail that brings the setting to life, wonderful characters that work their way into your heart, and a memorable story that you won’t soon forget.

I love that through all the heartache, at the core this book is filled with so much hope. It’s a story about what we’re willing to sacrifice for others. It’s about love and loyalty. Of finding your voice and learning to trust it. And oh, how so much of this one spoke right to my momma heart. If you’re a fan of historical fiction (or just great books in general) this is a definite must-read. Easily giving it ALL the stars.

Thank you Graydon House for the free copy in exchange for my honest review.

<em>Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing house for providing an advanced copy for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own! </em>

It has been a long time since I have read a historical fiction book that I was this swept away in, but <a href="https://amzn.to/2JHDhZU" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>The Things We Cannot Say</em></a>, was incredible from start to finish. If you like your historical fiction to jump from past to present, told through alternating viewpoints, I have a feeling you will appreciate the format of this beautiful story.

Since Alina Dziak was nine, she knew that she would marry her best friend, Tomaz. At fifteen she is engaged and unconcerned about the reports of Nazi soldiers at the Polish border, believing that they are her neighbors and not a threat.  She instead fills her head with dreams of the day that Tomasz will return from college so they can be married. Alina could never know though how the Nazi occupation would take over her rural village and how it had the power to destroy her relationship with her one true love.

Presently, Alice is struggling with the challenges of her special needs child, a husband who doesn't get the work that goes into keeping their family floating, and her grandmother who is hospitalized. When her grandmother begs her to return to her childhood hometown, Alice begins to realize there is more to her grandmother's story than meets the eye. Leaving is never easy, especially with her juggle, but she makes the promise and heads to find out more about her grandmother and the secrets she has been keeping.

This is a beautiful love story weaved in with the all-too-relatable struggle of being a modern day woman. Rimmel finds ways to weave this story very creatively that allows the slow unveiling of secrets to the reader.  This time in history is a heavy one and the shifting viewpoints really benefit in helping create a story that you can connect with in a myriad of ways. You can help but root for Alina and Tomaz through this haunting read. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

What a thoughtful and beautifully told story! I have read several of Rimmer's books in the past, but this might be my favorite so far. The characters are very real and the story engaging and moving. Recommended!

Favorite Quotes:

There was nothing to bury, no body to conduct a service over. Instead, we heard that he was gone, and that was that… Nothing had changed, except that nothing was the same anymore, because once I had two brothers, and now I had one… Our oppression was loss without reason, and pain without a purpose.

I didn’t yet understand the horrific depths of the evil of the Nazi agenda— but somehow in the moonlight that night, I felt the loss of humanity, a very pause in the heartbeat of our shared existence on this planet.

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.

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.


My Review:

This captivating tale was my introduction to the breathtaking storytelling of Kelly Rimmer, and it was an exceptional and epic experience. I was immediately embroiled in the vastly different situations and timelines that consumed and defined Alice and Alina’s worlds, with each storyline cast with curiously and uniquely fascinating characters and circumstances.

The writing was craftily emotive, intriguing, and devastating. I was well and fully hooked and sat riveted to my Kindle while alternating between cringing, sighing, and occasionally gasping and gulping past the hot rocks in my throat. I was wrecked, gutted, and burning with indignation over the well-orchestrated and demonic cruelty perpetrated by the Nazis as a whole and at the individual level.

I cannot begin to imagine the massive amount of research involved to pull all the various historic and profoundly complicated elements together. However, I am even more impressed and completely awed by the elegance and mastery in finessing such a poignant and thoughtfully compelling narrative among the ghastly backdrop of occupied Poland in Alina’s timeline, as well as the emotional challenges and troublesome issues of dealing with a beloved dying family member on top of the harried day to day considerations involved in caring for specialized needs of a child on the autism spectrum in Alice’s timeline. Ms. Rimmer’s original premise and intensely engaging storylines were brilliantly crafted and flawlessly executed. She has just acquired a rabid fangirl, for life.

**I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.**
This book beautifully weaves two stories together. A young mother is trying her best to manage one extremely advanced child and another who is severely autistic. Her husband is a genius who cannot understand their son and her mother is a powerful judge who cannot understand why her daughter lets herself be “dependent on a man.” Her grandmother, who has always been her anchor, is very sick and is now only able to speak her native language, Polish. When her grandmother asks her to travel to Poland to find Tomaszc, she is confused. Her grandfather was named Tomaszc and he passed two years ago. In a pique, she decides to go.
This book is heartbreaking and quietly beautiful. WWII stories are never easy reads. This one has such an incredible story. How many people walked away from WWII as another person and never looked back? This author was able to balance this dual story beautifully. You are able to easily follow both and watch as they impact one another.
I loved how the grandmothers story shifted the current story. I loved the multiple love stories and how they highlight the different kinds of love.

In The Things We Cannot Say Kelly Rimmer has penned a heartbreakingly powerful and hopeful love story set amidst the backdrop of war, loss and the unimaginable atrocities of WWII. Simply put this is the kind of book that grabs hold of you, envelopes you within it pages and holds on long after you have finished reading.

I thoroughly enjoyed the way Rimmer told this story via a dual narrative - effortlessly weaving historical fiction with a modern day story. Alina's story is set amidst the harrowing timeframe of Nazi occupied Poland. Through her narrative we experience unimaginable atrocities of war, loss of family and friends and the heartbreak and joy of true love. I was completely drawn in by Alina's story. Her strength and capacity to love and remain hopeful in such a dark time was as heartwarming as it was heartbreaking. The second narrative is set in present day. Alice is dealing with a stressful homelife - an autistic son, a gifted daughter, a marriage in crisis and her beloved Babica's (grandmother) stroke. Knowing her time on this earth is coming to an end, Babica tasks Alice with returning to her childhood country of Poland to find people from her past.

The journey Alice embarks on for her Babica was so poignant. As she uncovered her story, a story her Babica could never share, she not only uncovered her grandmother's truths but also discovered her own truths along the way. This story was filled with amazing relationships. Rimmer is not afraid to explore family and all the complications that come with it. This is not about perfection. It's messy, complicated, filled with arguments, strife and doubt but at its core its solid and founded on love.

This is my second book by Kelly Rimmer (the first being Before I Let You Go ) and she has unequivocally captured me as a fan. She captures human emotion with such heart and unflinching honesty. I urge you to add this one to the top of your must read list. You will not be sorry.