I am not going to lie. Truths I Never Told You is a book that you need to read with a box of Kleenex nearby. That was something I wish I knew before I started reading it.

Truths I Never Told You is split into three povs. Grace, Beth, and Maryanne. Grace’s POV was hard to read. Her mental anguish was clear to see. It hurt me to see her not able to take care of her children or herself. When she did try to get help, she was told to suck it up. The decision she made in the middle of the book was a necessary one. Beth’s POV was just as hard to read as Grace’s was. Her anguish at not connecting with Noah and having to put her father in hospice was palpable. Maryanne, on the other hand, was this vibrant, over the top woman who breathed new light into the book. Her POV helped highlight how little rights women had back in the ’50s and ’60s. It also showed that a mother isn’t necessarily the one who birthed you.

The author did a fantastic job of highlighting what women’s rights were like back in the ’50s and ’60s. I had no issue imagining a woman with severe postpartum depression being forced into electroshock therapy or, as Grace was told, to snap out of it. I was horrified at how little help she had. I understood why Grace did in the middle of the book and why she contacted Maryanne to help her.

Beth’s experiences in the late 1990s were much better than Grace’s. But the stigma of having a mental illness hung over her head kept her from seeking help. Unfortunately, that still is the case these days. But, I was glad to see that Beth had a support system. She had siblings, a husband, and a mother in law who cared about her mental health.

Maryanne was the real MVP in this book. She didn’t get her own POV until the last half of the book. The author did a fantastic job of showing how she did what she thought was right and the fallout of that. Her scenes with Beth at the end of the book was poignant and heartbreaking.

The mystery angle of the story was well written. It was written around Beth’s father’s dementia and illness. That meant that I had a kernel of doubt about what happened until Beth unearthed the trunk. That scene blew it out of the book for me. The ring, the death certificate, the picture were all explained. And that meant even more tears on my end.

The end of Truths I Never Told You was well written. The author brought all the storylines (Beth, Grace, and Maryanne) together. I loved seeing everyone and how they healed from Patrick’s death and what was uncovered in Beth’s investigation.

A family drama of mystery and parts that just make you so sad. Powerful and emotional read of post partum depression. Told through the eyes of mother and daughter in the 1950s and the second some forty years later.

"Everything changes."

A family dealing with their father's end of life, of the person who raised them and afterwards finding out some very heartbreaking things about him and their mother. A wonderful well written book.
"Our chaotic, quirky family was built with love, and whatever comes next for us, that love will continue to grow."

Thank you to Publisher and NetGalley for the eARC

I really liked this book.. As someone who has worked with women in the health field, this book really hit a nerve. .I can't image if women had to return to the age where birth control was limited and the understanding of post partum depression was not talked about.. Bravo to the author for this book!

Truths I Never Told you is many things: a heart wrenching story, a mystery , family relationships, things we say and things we never say to our family or others.

The story is told in two time lines with multiple viewpoints . The confusion starts when Beth finds a note her mom wrote years ago. There Dad is now in declining health and cant answer their questions how their Mom died. Or when !!

There is so much to this book . I wont do it justice by describing it you just have to pick up this book and read it.

Very thought provoking.

Kelly Rimmer draws you in from the first page and keeps you hooked.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harelquin - Graydon House Books (US and Canada)

Stark, honest and real. And that’s why reading THE TRUTHS I NEVER TOLD YOU is at times disturbing. Kelly Rimmer makes you feel the pain and angst of her characters. You at times want to shake them and other times want those around them to see what you see. THE TRUTHS I NEVER TOLD YOU is a gritty look at post-partum and it is told through the eyes of two different women. A generation apart. The first Grace Walsh does not have the sophistication to understand what she is experiencing. Her daughter Beth is a therapist and has the knowledge but still unable to recognize the signs or scrutinize them. Grace and Beth are living through the painful experience of having a baby, feeling distant and having difficulty getting to that point of falling in love. After all there must be something wrong with them since all mothers gush over their babies, nurturing them with care, love and emotion.
Kelly Rimmer writes this story in two separate timelines. One in the 1950’s and the second some forty years later. The tales are at times mirror images. The times may have changed but this problem transcends generations.
What are a persons tipping point? How do you recognize it? And how can you prevent something awful without one hundred percent attention.
THE TRUTHS I NEVER TOLD YOU is an important story to tell and I personally can’t think of anyone better than Kelly Rimmer to ferret out the truth behind something so important and relevant.
Grace Walsh loves her husband Patrick and basically gives up her family to marry him. Grace never thought how isolated that would make her. Now with the birth of her son Tim she doesn’t know how to deal with feelings of being unable to cope with what she thinks should be rather basic. Tim cries and so does Grace. Her usual chores become too demanding for her to face. So for many months Grace faces each day alone with her fears and innate sense that she is not normal. She isolates herself from other mothers so that they don’t pity her. Patrick is busy trying to earn a living. Life is hard and now with a baby it is out of control.
Beth and her husband tried for many years and then had Noah. For some reason that Beth just can’t explain she realizes that this was a mistake. Having a baby was a mistake. Her family is totally supportive and very close. She is one of four siblings and she knows they would help her if she was honest with them. But that is not going to happen. To everyone Beth says she is just fine. Everyone knows that is not the case. They just can’t figure out why she is so stressed out. Beth is worried. Worried about doing something wrong and hurting Noah. Worried about perhaps disappointing her family.
For both Grace and Beth their lives get very complicated and they use that as an explanation for why they are having difficulty coping. Different times. Similar issues. Both women need help.
Kelly Rimmer writes society prioritizes the welfare of children over the ambitions of self-focused young mothers when one of the characters wants an explanation of why she is overlooked for a position.
Grace sees her existence as a liability. Perhaps as a danger to those she loves the most. The only remedy is to avoid having more babies. She somewhat clearly sees that it is those months after the birth as an immediate danger. Even though she doesn’t understand what they mean or how they happen.
Beth sees herself as a psychologist, wife, mother and crazy person.
While working as a bookkeeper – note not as accountant – for small company in NY an opportunity for a full-time teaching position opened. I told them about the position and that it was just what I had been hoping for. Their immediate response was that I should stay since I was sure to have children soon so why change jobs. I never really saw anything wrong about this remark and truly have told it with humor many times. I had never heard of a marriage bar. I learned about this phrase in THE TRUTHS I NEVER TOLD YOU. Quite an eye-opening experience for me.
Actually THE TRUTHS I NEVER TOLD YOU was too. Grace and Beth are certainly main characters but they are surrounded by a equally important cast. Kelly Rimmer has outdone herself. Kelly Rimmer’s work is always impeccably done and compelling. THE TRUTHS I NEVER TOLD YOU is in a class of its own.

Kelly Rimmer has firmly cemented herself as one of my favorite authors. Her newest was another emotionally gutting tale, beautifully woven and completely relatable. She weaves dual timelines and multiple viewpoints seamlessly. In Truths I Never Told You, she perfectly captured the stigma of mental illness and the progression of the mental health field from the 1960’s until today. While we’ve come a long way, we still have work to do to end the stigma and that is perfectly reflected in this book. The plot moves along nicely with some well timed twists. This powerful tale is compelling, relatable, and emotionally charged! The author tackles heavy topics with grace. I absolutely loved this book and will place it in my top reads of 2020. For me, this was a firm 5 ⭐️. Thank you to @harlequinbooks for the advance reader in exchange for my honest review.

This is the first Kelly Rimmer book I have had the pleasure to read and review. The characters were well- developed and realistic, so I was drawn into the plot quickly. A family drama, a good dose of mystery, and a tearjerker in parts, I truly enjoyed the novel. Occasional the device of Grace writing journal entries documenting her feelings and situation felt a bit unnatural, explaining details that were rather obvious. For the most part, though, it was an excellent, touching dual narrator novel. Almost 4.5 stars.

This book deals with some serious subject matter and the author does a good job. There are two storylines dealing with postpartum depression and the effects on the family. Kelly Rimmer tackles this issue with highlighting two different time periods and how times have changed. This is a character driven novel with a family mystery that needs to be discussed for the family to move forward and heal. #TruthsINeverToldYou #KellyRimmer #NetGalley

Last year I was introduced to author Kelly Rimmer by one of my book reviewing friends. I devoured The Things We Cannot Say and was blown away by Rimmer' ability to share multi-faceted characters that felt so real and raw while also diving into a heartbreaking part of our not so distant history.

I loved the dual storylines and how they wove together and kept me guessing until the end. Rimmer captured the power of sharing our stories while also reminding us that many people have a history we might know nothing about. ⁣

When I saw that Rimmer was publishing a new book in 2020 I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. Truths I Never Told You captivated me from the very beginning. The topics in this book were something I could personally relate to. While this might not be the case for all readers, I think this is a powerful and important read either way. In the age of new parenthood being portrayed in such a polished (and often super unrelatable or honest manner) on social media, this book was just so spot-on and important.

I was super impressed with Rimmer's ability to write about the struggles of new motherhood when dealing with some of the mental health issues and general ambivalence that can arise and are often not talked about. This is something that is starting to be more common in nonfiction writing about motherhood but not in such a readable fiction format.

Truths I Never Told You alternates between Beth, a new mother in the mid-1990s and her mother Grace who was struggling immensely in the 1950s with raising her four young children. Just like in The Things We Cannot Say, there is a family mystery element that keeps us guessing until the very end. This part of the book is woven so beautifully between the layers of family dynamics and the important complexities of her carefully crafted and multifaceted characters.

Rimmer is absolutely amazing at writing stories that are both compelling and nuanced. She doesn't shy away from interweaving thought-provoking and sometimes very challenging topics while also being a complete page-turner. 

I am struggling to write this review without giving away any of the important elements of this powerful story, but I will just say that is is a must-read and if you haven't really any of Rimmer's writing yet, you need to ASAP!

I can't wait to share more about this book when it is published this spring and I already know it will be one of my top books of 2020.

Thank you to NetGalley and Graydon House Books for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

I received this book "Truths I Never Told You" from NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own. Although I liked some of the authors other books, this one didn't do it for me. I almost DNF this one. It took a long time to get into this book. I felt bored in the beginning but then it picked up a bit. I wanted more of Patrick's story. The book just didn't feel complete.

As I've said time and time again, Kelly Rimmer found her way into my heart when I first read Before I Let You Go and when I read The Things We Cannot Say, she permanently cemented her place on my favorite author list. I have always been in awe of Rimmer's talent to write across a variety of genres and excel in each genre. In Truths I Never Told You, we have a mix of contemporary and the 1960s as our dual timelines and the subject in question is postpartum depression.

Rimmer creates characters that jump off the page and the reader can truly empathize with. The dual timelines in her work always add an extra layer of complexity while we try to gauge how the two might come together. In Truths I Never Told You, each timeline stands out on it's own and the melding of the two just increases that. This story will give you a lot to think about in terms of how society has changed from the 60s but also in the ways change is still needed. As always, I can appreciate the dilemmas and questions Rimmer poses through her characters.

The worst part of this? Reading the last page and knowing I will have to wait months for a new book from this sharp voice!