The Things We Cannot Say cover art

The Things We Cannot Say

Preview

Get this deal Try for £0.00
Offer ends April 30, 2025 at 23:59 GMT.
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for £7.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Things We Cannot Say

By: Kelly Rimmer
Narrated by: Ann Marie Gideon, Nancy Peterson
Get this deal Try for £0.00

£7.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends April 30, 2025 23:59 GMT. Cancel monthly.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Now a New York Times best seller!

From the author of Truths I Never Told You, Before I Let You Go, and the upcoming 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.

"Kelly Rimmer has outdone herself. I thought that Before I Let You Go was one of the best novels I had ever read.... If you only have time to read one book this year The Things We Cannot Say should be that book. Keep tissues handy." (Fresh Fiction)

"Fans of The Nightingale and Lilac Girls will adore The Things We Cannot Say." (Pam Jenoff, New York Times best-selling author)

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 15 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. 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.

Don't miss Kelly Rimmer's new and unforgettable novel, The Warsaw Orphan.

©2019 Kelly Rimmer (P)2019 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited
Family Life Fiction Friendship Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Jewish Women's Fiction World Literature Village Solider War Heartfelt Thought-Provoking Romance Mystery Polish History Ireland Historical Fiction True Crime Mystery

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Warsaw Orphan cover art

What listeners say about The Things We Cannot Say

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    45
  • 4 Stars
    8
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    39
  • 4 Stars
    10
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    44
  • 4 Stars
    8
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story and narration

This story had me gripped from the start. Loved the characters and despite being a heartbreaking story would highly recommend

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story ruined by a terrible narrator

The story was heart breaking, but also interesting and fun and pretty much a rollercoaster of emotions.

It’s really sad that the narrator was too lazy to learn basic pronunciation of the few polish words that the author included in the book. I guess some people just do the bare minimum and do not try to get it right.

It’s probably heart breaking for the author too, as there is no point including the polish words for someone to butcher them. It would be better to just keep the entire story in English, without the jarring errors.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Simply exceptional

Just brilliant. A really great listen. Narration was great. It’s a book that makes you think of the things our forefathers went through. Loved it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

mixed feelings

I found this book heartbreaking when Alina is speaking and narrating her story but I found the juxtaposition of Alice's narration very strained. I understand why the author did it but I found it rather contrived as a device to narrate the story. The dialogue between Alice and Wade and Alice's inner dialogue is exasperating and Giulietta is very one dimensional. The author's description of Alice, her mother and father is completely lacking and I just found everything to do with Alice intensely annoying.
As a result of the contrived device of linking the 2 stories, I really began to feel that Alina 's story would have been better told as a stand alone story but then it would have been a very slim novel. Perhaps the novel would have been improved by fleshing out Emilia 's story and even making more of what happened to Alina's parents and her brothers and sister. I feel by including those details the story would have been more impactful from an historical point of view. Also, it seems unlikely that as Alina waits & waits over the years for Tomaz and her failed attempts at writing to Emilia, she might realistically have tried to use the many organisations set up for reuniting displaced/separated families such as the Red Cross and the IRO (International Refugee Organisation).
This book conveys an extremely personal and heartbreaking story but, to my mind, it could have been written in a much more effective and less contrived way and been far more impactful as a result.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great narration

The narration of this book to start was excellent. A captivated photographer drawn into a complicated story loses his way and possibly more

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

compelling

every emotion possible in one story of love suffering humanity and great sorrow
a family seceret investigated with respect and dignity giving peace

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Outstanding

Extraordinary story really touching! Such realistic portrayal of the characters. Really beautiful book just loved it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Emotional 🥺

This was the first & most definitely not the last Kelly Rimmer book for me. Loved everything about this book. The story & excellent narrative pulled me right in with me looking for things to do to have a guiltless listen. I shed tears…A must read!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Super listen

I was entranced by the delicate story telling that didn’t hide the horrors that happened. Buy its beautiful and gentle, a story across generations that makes us realise no matter where we are from, we are here because of the past

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Both Heart Wrenching and Heart Warming

Told in two different time periods. In the present day Alice’s grandma, Alina, is terminally ill in hospital. Unable to communicate effectively at first, Eddie, Alice’s son comes to the rescue with his communication device and Alice finds out that Alina wants her to travel to Poland, her homeland, to find something or someone. Despite having a rather busy and hectic life with her own family, Alice agrees and she jets off on an extraordinary journey. As this is going on we also find a young Alina in Poland during World War 2 and we see how she embarks on a dangerous and extraordinary journey of her own that will have far reaching consequences. This is a heart wrenching and heart warming tale that is brought to life by the narration and adds an extra layer of emotion on top. What intrigued me the most was Alice’s family dynamic with her husband Wade and her two children, especially her autistic son Eddie. As father of a child with autism I found it oh so familiar and relatable. I did feel like saying to Alice on a few occasions to take a chill pill. However stressful and high strung a situation is with a special needs child you need to learn to chill sometimes. I’m glad Alice learnt that at the end but that also Wade learnt to step up too. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this and will definitely read/listen to more from this author.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!