“For fans who appreciate emotionally wrenching reads such as those by Sarah Jio or Kristin Hannah.” -Library Journal “Fans of Jodi Picoult and Kristin Hannah now have a new go-to author.” –Sally Hepworth, bestselling author of The Secrets of Midwives From the bestselling author of The Things We Cannot Say, Before I Let You Go, and the upcoming The Warsaw Orphan, comes a poignant post-WWII … Orphan, comes a poignant post-WWII novel that explores the expectations society places on women set within an engrossing family mystery that may unravel everything once believed to be true.
With her father recently moved to a care facility, Beth Walsh volunteers to clear out the family home and is surprised to discover the door to her childhood playroom padlocked. She’s even more shocked at what’s behind it–a hoarder’s mess of her father’s paintings, mounds of discarded papers and miscellaneous junk in the otherwise fastidiously tidy house.
As she picks through the clutter, she finds a loose journal entry in what appears to be her late mother’s handwriting. Beth and her siblings grew up believing their mother died in a car accident when they were little more than toddlers, but this note suggests something much darker.
Beth soon pieces together a disturbing portrait of a woman suffering from postpartum depression and a husband who bears little resemblance to the loving father Beth and her siblings know. With a newborn of her own and struggling with motherhood, Beth finds there may be more tying her and her mother together than she ever suspected.
Don’t miss Kelly Rimmer’s upcoming and unforgettable novel, The Warsaw Orphan.
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An incredible book on a dual timeline that addresses the struggles of postpartum depression both now and in the 1950s. When Patrick is deteriorating and his children find secret notes and information about their long deceased mother, they try to put all the pieces together. The author did a great job creating these characters and engaging me in the story. I would definitely recommend this book.
I did not see the story ending like it did but it was perfect.
My heart hurts for Patrick and all the loss he suffered and Marianne for the what could of been.
This story opens your eyes to postpartum depression and you get to see it in a time where contraceptive was not available and see how women would suffer with it.
Overall it was a good story that I am glad I read.
Four siblings are on the brink of losing their father. He has been their rock their whole lives, he’s worked hard to give them everything they’ve ever needed and showed them what love was, and what family really means even as a single parent. As their father starts to falter, his dementia gets worse and he seems to be talking in circle, not making any sense. Decisions are made, and he is moved to a home to help care for him.
Beth, the youngest decides to undertake the cleaning out of his house. They are unsure if they want to sell it, or rent it out. This is where they grew up, where memories were made, and where they still meet weekly, if possible for dinner. Beth, with an infant at home feels this will help her with her blues lately. It will give her something to do, and maybe that will help refocus her mind.
As the days progress, their father seems to become worse with his words. He continuously calls Beth Maryann and keeps talking about needing to apologize. He is sorry. Continuing to correct him, only causes frustration and then he will shut down. Beth tries to understand that he knows who she is, it’s just part of the disease. As she cleans out the house, she finds strange paintings and letters strewing amongst the junk in the attic room that he had padlocked shut.
The more Beth cleans, and finds the more questions she seems to come up with, and the more she is feeling unsettled and worn out. Keeping this from her siblings, she decides she needs to confront her father and get answers before it’s too late. The day she decides to try and confront him, ends up in disaster with her siblings not understanding her questioning and pushing of him. This causes him to really shut down and now she needs to tell the others the truth of what she has found and why she was confronting their father.
Will they be able to get the answers from their father before it’s too late, or will they have to search the answers out on their own? They already have some of the pieces, however they are not making sense to what they’ve always believed and remembered from growing up. Will Beth be able to come to understand what is really wrong with her, and that maybe it is not her fault and nothing that she did wrong?
This was an interesting read about a family growing up in the late 50’s and decades after and the different choices women had to make. Women still were thought to be the quiet housewives and still did not have many decisions or options available to them. This story unfolds as the siblings clean out their childhood home, and find the answers to things they never thought to question.
Ms. Rimmer addresses difficult topics. The pro-choice voice is clearly heard within these pages. This novel wasn’t for me.
I borrowed a copy from my local library. All views expressed are my honest opinion.
Excellent book. I suffered from post-partem and this book brings to light just how real and difficult this condition is.
I love stories told in two timelines and I love stories full of family secrets. I was fully invested from page one.
I appreciated the unflinching and honest look at post-partum depression through the years. It takes a lot of strength to admit you are struggling with something society tells you should come naturally…bonding with your child/children. It also takes a lot of strength to write characters dealing with some pretty dark thoughts knowing some readers won’t let the characters because of this. I found both Grace and Beth well written and I emphasized with both. I also enjoyed the family dynamics between the siblings in the 90’s timeline as they were faced in coming to terms with the fact that their father was dying and that he was a man with so many secrets.
I loved these characters, they were all flawed and made so many mistakes, yet they were likable and all experienced growth. There was so much heartbreak they had to face because of their decisions and those are the kind of stories that haunt me and stay with me long after the book is over. Yet in spite of the heart-wrenching moments, I found the book a beautiful story about the importance of truth and the unconditional love of family.
Kelly Rimmer is fast becoming a favorite author for me. I listened to this on Audible. Fantastic story and fantastic narrators. All the feels with women from two generations that deal with postpartum depression and some other hot topics. A quick listen for me as I couldn’t wait to see the stories and the secrets come together at the end.
This book is so good—so amazingly good! Just from the title, you know that there are going to be secrets, lots of secrets. And people seeking the truth. But is the truth really what they want?
The story is full of interesting characters, a close family of four siblings, who are struggling with losing their father to dementia. As the family home is cleaned out, one of them finds notes that don’t match up to all the family stories that they heard growing up. The only one who knows the truth is beyond the point of telling.
Truths I Never Told You is a heartfelt and emotional story that will resonate with a lot of people. What family doesn’t have secrets and struggles? The journey to get to this family’s truth was a hard journey but one I am certainly glad I took. This is a wonderful story and one that I won’t soon forget.
After reading and loving The Things We Cannot say last year, Kelly Rimmer became an auto-buy author for me. Her newest book, Truths I Never Told You, is an emotionally-gripping book about a young woman suffering from postpartum depression. As Beth comes to terms with her own feelings, she discovers long-buried secrets about her own mother. The story is written with an honesty that I felt deep in my heart, worrying and hoping and grieving right along with Beth and her mother, Grace. This powerful, beautifully-written book explores the struggles and options—and lack of options-for women in the past as well as women of today.
The disposition of the father in this book hit me hard and probably influenced how I felt about the rest of the book. I could relate to Beth’s sense of duty to do right by her father’s house. I did find the “mystery” part of the story interesting as Beth uncovered long-hidden family secrets. I wasn’t bothered by some of the subject matter as others were. I would recommend this emotional read. Please visit my blog at Fireflies and Free Kicks Fiction Reviews for more thoughts. This review was written based on a digital ARC of the book and all thoughts are my own.
Favorite Quotes:
Alicia came with him a few times, then suddenly stopped helping out. As far as I can tell, she’s very busy being a “media personality.” Given she hasn’t had an acting or modeling gig for at least a decade, “media personality” seems to mean she spends her mornings at the gym and her afternoons with her socialite friends, hoping she’ll make it into the frame of a paparazzi photo so she can complain about her lack of privacy.
Here, more than anywhere, I feel his absence. The room smells like Dad— his aftershave and deodorant linger in the air. This scent is warm hugs on sad days, and laughter over the breakfast bar, and suffering through the sheer boredom of the old black-and-white movie marathons he so loved to inflict upon us on rainy weekends.
Mrs. Hills and Aunt Nina insisted on taking me out for a bachelorette party the weekend before the wedding. I protested furiously at this, mostly because I wasn’t exactly excited by the idea of suffering through two octogenarians offering me sex advice.
“For your generation, these problems have names, and because they are defined, solutions can be found for them. But for my generation, we didn’t have access to those solutions and it made life endlessly complicated… and for women like your mother, endlessly cruel.” Two weeks ago I stuffed a script for Prozac into my tote bag, and it’s still there— resting between baby wipes and spare pacifiers and my purse. I clutch the strap tighter in my hand… Sometimes moments of change happen during quiet conversations like this, when a simple shift in perspective empowers you to make a choice you just haven’t been able to make before.
My Review:
I finished Kelly Rimmer’s latest work with tears in my eyes and hot rocks in my throat, a condition I had experienced several times during my perusal of this poignant and keenly written piece. Poignant is the word that keeps circling in my gray matter, and while accurate, poignant falls short of doing justice to this thoughtful penned story. Let me add a few more adjectives and adverbs in my paltry attempt to express my scattered thoughts, including – profoundly insightful, real-world issues, extremely relevant, heart-squeezing, painfully honest, highly emotive, sensitively handled, cleverly nuanced, masterfully written, and brilliantly paced. Ms. Rimmer seems to have an adept and nimble skill at walking the line of both sides of a controversial subject and deftly and thoughtfully exposing the grim disparities, inequities, and nitty-gritty parts that neither side can ignore. I covet her mad skills and will ever remain her ardent fangirl for life.
Most of the time I prefer to read romance books. More specifically, I prefer romantic suspense above all else. Reading this book’s blurb, for some reason I felt as if it was going to be a romantic suspense book. And there were amazing suspense elements to Truths I Never Told You…but it was so. Much. More.
This book delves into the painful truths of post-partum depression and the stigma surrounding those who suffer from this devastating disorder and from the labeling that people are left to live under regarding mental health issues.
NICUnurse’s Rating: Truths I Never Told You was an intimate journey into a family’s several generations of mental illness in the form of post-partum depression. It is heartbreaking, yet heartwarming at the same time. A truly emotional read that will have you alternately crying and rooting for these brave female characters. For fans of women’s fiction full of the broad spectrum of emotions these books evoke, Truths I Never Told You is a must-read. Kelly Rimmer was a new-to-me author when I began this story, but I will anxiously await her next title, for sure.
I give Truths I Never Told You by Kelly Rimmer 5 out of 5 stars!
TRUTHS I NEVER TOLD YOU by Kelly Rimmer is an intense new women’s fiction/historical mystery/suspense novel. This story follows a mother in 1957 and her daughter in 1997 with two simultaneous intertwining plot lines.
Patrick has been a beloved single father for many years and now his four children are finding it difficult to come to terms with placing him in a care facility due to his dementia and heart disease. When the youngest, Beth begins to clear the family home, she finds a disaster of paintings, papers and garbage behind the locked attic door. The siblings discover a trail of personal papers which lead them to question what they were told of their mother’s death in a car accident when they were very young.
Grace fell in love with Patrick and married young. Their family started immediately as they were strict Catholics that did not believe in birth control and money was always a problem. The twins came next and then little Beth. Patrick always promised to help, but not being able to deal with his wife’s difficulties, he turns to drink. All the children were barely over a year apart and after each birth Grace lived in a state of despair and depression. When Grace discovers she is once again pregnant, she knows she cannot go through with it and asks for help from her older sister, Maryanne.
Beth Walsh and her husband finally have a baby after years of fertility treatments, but since Noah’s birth Beth has not been herself. Her husband and sister finally get her to see a doctor and even though she is a child psychologist by profession, she fails to realize her own severe post-partum depression.
As Beth pieces together the mystery in the attic, she discovers her mother may have had the same difficulty with post-partum depression, but they were different times for her mother in the 1950’s. She and her siblings also want to find out about the mysterious Maryanne. Will the loving family be able to withstand their family secrets?
Ms. Rimmer did an amazing job of researching post-partum depression in both the 1950’s and present day and her empathy is apparent as you progress through the story. She made the inner secrets and feelings of both mother and daughter intertwine in a realistic portrayal for both their generations. I felt completely immersed in both timelines as they alternated throughout the story. Even as you are reading the intense mother/daughter stories, the author also brought Maryanne, Patrick and her three siblings lives to life on the pages. I loved how Beth cherished the written pages from her mother in the attic as a way to understand and connect with her. It is hard to not get completely immersed in this book, but it is also an emotionally difficult book to read.
I can highly recommend this novel!
Truths I Never Told is written in two different timelines and Aussie author Kelly Rimmer has done an outstanding job in bringing those two timelines together.
This is a unforgettable story of motherhood, marriage, family and so much more and one you will find very hard to put down. I absolutely loved and thoroughly enjoyed this book and have no hesitation in highly recommending it to anyone who is looking for their next read.
This book tackles some serious topics – Beth’s father has dementia and her mother battled postpartum depression. Beth Walsh, the protagonist in the story, is a new mother who is having difficulty connecting with her son Noah. Her mother died when she was young, and her father is now in a care facility. Beth has now volunteered to clear out her father’s house. She is surprised when she finds that her old playroom has a heavy-duty padlock on it. She is then shocked to find the formerly neat and clean room now a mess – piles of papers, boxes, clothing, the usual junk. But she also finds her father’s paintings and a page from a journal – her mother’s journal. What is written on that errant page jars her? She had been told that her mother died in a car accident, but the note suggests otherwise. As she finds more of her mother’s writings, she realizes her father was not always the loving man she knows.
I thought the pace of the book was very slow. Just as it would get my interest it would then slow down again. I also never connected with the characters. Definitely not a page-turner. It gets better if you can stay with it through the slow parts.
“…loneliness is worse than sadness…loneliness, by its very definition, cannot be shared.”
This is a moving story told mainly from a mother and a daughter’s point-of-view who both suffered/suffer terribly from postpartum depression.
Grace is a young mother in 1956-57 who has four children under the age of five and a husband who, not only doesn’t believe in birth control, but distances himself from his family with work and drinking.
Beth is the youngest of Grace’s daughters in 1996 who has a new baby plus a father, who she and her siblings dearly love, in hospice care.
This book is about family, about the stigma and/or the ignorance of depression, and about impossible choices.
This was an emotionally difficult story to read but it was also about the ties of family and overcoming adversity.
I received this book from Grayson House through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.
With Truths I Never Told You, Kelly Rimmer delivers a riveting family drama that had me completely captivated. The story unfolds at different times, and from different perspectives, but Rimmer ties it all together in a compelling manner. Told via journal entries from wife and mother, Grace Walsh, and also from the perspective of Beth, Grace’s youngest daughter, the reader is brought into a world of depression and deception. A third voice, that of Grace’s sister Maryann, comes into the story and provides the bridge between the past and present and the dark family secret is revealed.
Centered on Patrick Walsh’s declining health, the Walsh siblings are facing the fact that they need to move him out of the family home and into a nursing home. Beth, who steps up to manage this is motivated by her own shame at not enjoying motherhood, one that she fought hard to gain. The story is equally intriguing and sad. As Patrick and Grace’s early years are shared, we see two people facing financial and emotional hardships. As Beth packs up her father’s house, she discovers things he kept from his children, and the mystery of their mothers’ death gives her pause.
This story kept me guessing. It was one of those reads where I found myself ruminating on what the secret might be. If you like a family drama with a well thought out cast of characters and plot, this story is for you. 4 Stars and recommendation.
IT WAS HORRIED!
Moving, mysterious, and absorbing!
Truths I Never Told You is an engaging, affecting story that immerses you into the lives of the Walsh family as they struggle to come to grips with an ailing father, a family home filled with nostalgia and secrets, a sister grappling with postpartum depression, and the real truth behind the life and loss of their mother Grace when they were children.
The writing is smooth and emotive. The characters are genuine, supportive, and multilayered. And the plot, including all the subplots, intertwine and unravel into a hopeful tale about life, loss, family, parenthood, mental illness, secrets, deception, introspection, forgiveness, and love.
Overall, Truths I Never Told You is a heartbreaking, touching, enlightening tale by Rimmer that reminds us life is too short for grievances, resentments, and regrets, and psychological disorders are very real concerns that should never be left untreated.
Truths I Never Told You covers some heavy topics, all of which are emotional. Nevertheless, I struggled to connect with both the characters and the story for about the first half of the book. The second half did hold me a little tighter than the beginning, but the writing still had a somewhat detached feeling to it, which I think contributed to the lack of connection to the characters. I do think the issues involved were pretty accurate to the time periods, and while this isn’t a relaxing story by any means, it is worth the read. Parts of this one were harder for me than others, which again, may have something to do with my struggle to get through it, and if I had it to do over, I would’ve stretched the reading out a little more than I did, taking the book in smaller pieces at a time.