User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
2.5 disappointing stars.
I will start by saying, Kelly Rimmer is one of my most favourite authors and this was one of my highly anticipated reads this year. Two of her previous books are my absolute favourites - Before I Let You Go and The Things We Cannot Say. This book has plenty of excellent reviews, but unfortunately it did not work for me. The fact that I love this author so much makes my less than enjoyable reading experience even more disappointing.
The novel revolves around a family that is preparing for their aging father’s death. Beth is the youngest of her four adult siblings. She is struggling with adapting to her role as a new mother and feels the need to hide her struggles from her family. The siblings move their father to a care facility and during the process of clearing out his home, they discover long hidden letters from their deceased mother. Through these letters, they uncover long kept family secrets that leave many unanswered questions.
There are several heavy topics covered within this book, however, the author did not convey these topics in a connectable way for me. I didn’t truly feel for any of the characters. The storyline felt quite long, repetitive and drawn out which had me wanting to skim read. The novel was high on drama and convenient coincidences which also didn’t sit well with me. I really liked the idea behind this book, but it just didn’t come together for me.
Overall, this wasn’t an enjoyable read for me, but I remain a fan of this author and look forward to what she comes out with next.
Thank you to NetGalley for my review copy!
Rating: really liked it
"Truth's I Never Told You" by Kelly Rimmer is Domestic Suspense within a family story!
Beth Walsh is a new mother who doesn't feel the pull to her newborn son or motherhood and she doesn't understand why. She's fearful something is terribly wrong with her. Why doesn't she feel drawn to her baby?
As her father's dementia is rapidly progressing, Beth and her three older siblings agree it's time to move him from their large family home to a care facility. Beth, still on leave from her job, relegates herself as the one to begin clearing out their family home once her father is placed and settled.
When Beth attempts to enter the upstairs childhood playroom she finds the door padlocked. Once she gains entry, she finds what resembles a hoarder's nest. Why is this room such a mess when the remainder of the house is immaculate and why was the door padlocked?
Amongst the trash, she discovers her father's mysterious paintings she has never seen and hidden journal letters written by her mother. As Beth finds more and more letters, what she reads doesn't connect with what she has been told about when and how her mother died.
Beth is determined to find answers to what appears to be family secrets her father has held back from his children for years. Will the answers result in healing or will it tear this close knit family apart?
This story has two different timelines and holds two distinct perspectives of marriage and motherhood from mother-daughter protagonist's who lived generations apart. Beth leads the present-day story line set in the late 1990's. Her mother, Grace, narrates her story and her journal letters written in the late 1950's. Beth's sister, Maryanne, also gives a solo perspective which surfaces later in the story.
I love this heart-felt and heart-wrenching story about one family with similar experiences through the generations. It's a story that exhibits how holding back truths can harm those you hold most dear. It also shows how the domestic roles and taboos of previous generations have changed ever so slowly through the years.
This audiobook's three narrators, Sarah Mollo-Christensen, Piper Goodeve, and Jean Ann Douglas, gives extra texture to the protagonists POV's. Their voicing is expertly and authentically delivered and I enjoyed the experience!
I love the suspense in this story and the unexpected way the author weaves the past with the present timeline. The depth of this family story and how it is connected to our American culture through the latter half of the 20th Century is quite remarkable. I recommend this book to readers who also enjoy reading a complicated family story with a generous amount of suspense!
Rating: really liked it
2.5 stars. Told in two timelines, Grace struggles with postpartum depression in 1957 while Beth in 1996 reluctantly helps her father move into a nursing home since he is suffering from dementia. Beth then helps her siblings clean out her fathers house where she finds letters from her mother, Grace, revealing untold family truths.
The plot was very slow to build. The first half felt very repetitive and the characters were hard to connect with. It was surprising to feel such a disconnect from the characters since the subjects at hand were so solemn and emotional. The second half presented some unexpected twists after a different narrator surprisingly enters... which helped move the plot along. The ending was okay.
Gender roles and the feminist movement in the 1950's is explored and sufficiently represented. The issues brought up in the book regarding this are engaging topics.
Overall, the topics presented were interesting but the characters were flat and the plot was tedious.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy. Opinions are my own.
Rating: really liked it
EXCERPT: I'm losing it. That's what this is. It's a panic attack, or maybe a good old fashioned nervous breakdown, and maybe I'm hallucinating those notes. I do feel a little disconnected from the world, and hallucinations are as good an explanation as any. I'm going to have to leave Noah with Hunter and go into a hospital before something unthinkable happens. Crazy. It's an awful word, one I'd never ever let myself use to describe another person, but I feel crazy right now, and I'm so ashamed that I start to cry.
The letter needs my attention, and the baby needs my attention, and the canvases must match notes from her, and all of this obviously means something, and the attic is a mess, and Dad's really going to die. It's all just too much.
ABOUT THIS BOOK: With her father recently moved to a care facility for his worsening dementia, 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.
MY THOUGHTS: I really did not enjoy the first half of Truths I Never Told You by Kelly Rimmer. I skimmed passages and debated not finishing it. But I read on and just past the half way point my interest was piqued and I read the second half with a great deal of interest.
This is the first book by this author that I have read and I am still sitting on the fence as to whether I will read more from her. A little time and distance may give me a clearer perspective on that.
Things I didn't like included being 'lectured to' rather than feeling like a part of the story. This is particularly true in the first half. I didn't feel involved at all, or much sympathy for Beth, or anyone else for that matter. And I should have felt sympathy for Beth. It was obvious she was suffering from more than just 'baby blues'. But even so, I found the first half of the book rather overwrought. Personally, I like a little subtlety rather than having a point repeatedly rammed home.
The story is told through the eyes of three women; Grace in the 1950s, her sister Maryanne, and Grace's daughter Beth in the 1990s. The mystery is that surrounding Grace's disappearance, the uncovering of the truth surrounding it and Maryanne's role in the family unit. But we find out nothing about this mystery until the second half of the book. For me, it was introduced just in time and was the only thing that kept me reading.
Great cover!
😐😐😐
#TruthsINeverToldYou #NetGalley
'We have ceremonies like funerals - not for the departed but for the living, to remind one another that even in grief, we don't have to be alone.'
'Love doesn't just need compromise to survive - love, to its very essence, is compromise. It's genuinely wanting what's best for the other person, even when it trumps your own preferences.'
THE AUTHOR: Kelly Rimmer is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of ten novels, including The Secret Daughter and The Things We Cannot Say. She’s sold more than one million books, and her novels have been translated into more than 20 languages. Kelly lives in the Central West of New South Wales with her family and fantastically naughty dogs, Sully and Basil.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Hachette Australia via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Truths I Never Told You by Kelly Rimmer for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon and my webpage sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/2020/03/...
Rating: really liked it
Truths I Never Told You is the first book by Kelly Rimmer that I have read and most certainly will not be the last. She is an author that I have read so many good things about, and after finishing this book today I completely agree with them all. What an emotional roller coaster I have been on with these characters in the last 24 hours. It was a book that I didn't want to put down, completely invested in the story of this family.
Truths I Told You is told in 2 different timelines. in 1996, Beth Walsh and her siblings have made the tough decision to put their father Patrick into a care home as his dementia is worsening and doctors say hi doesn't have much longer to live. While she is cleaning out the family home she comes across paintings her father has painted that she has never seen before. There are also some old letters that are in her mothers handwriting. Beth and her brothers and sisters have always believed that Grace died in a car accident but these letters tell another story, a much darker one.
In 1957 we learn about Grace and Patrick's life, leading up to Graces' death through her letters to herself.
There are some really difficult subjects that this story covers. I both time periods the women are suffering from post partum depression. In the 50's and 60's women didn't have the same rights and choices that we do these days. At times reading about Graces' struggles was hard. I feel that Kelly Rimmer really did her research and portrayed the illness really well. As somebody who suffers from mental illness it is not always easy to read about but I felt a strong connection to these women and felt their pain.
Thank you to Hachette Books Australia for my advanced copy of this book to read. I am looking forward to listening to Kelly talk about this book at an author even in a few weeks.
Rating: really liked it
Dang, it! I thought for sure I would love this one and have that emotional pull I love so much from a story. Instead, I couldn't connect with the way the story was written and I didn't find the characters all that convincing.
There are some very emotional topics explored here in two timelines and we can see how different things are from each other. I think what I struggled with the most was in one timeline we see the character's struggles through letter and we are told about them and how the character feels. Then it seems like the story itself took on a telling tone to it, creating an overload of drama for me. At times the story felt repetitive with the dialogue between the characters and I wanted the story to move forward faster. This one just didn't work for me.
Traveling Sister read
I received a copy from the publisher on NetGalley
Rating: really liked it
Emotional and authentic. Kelly Rimmer’s stellar storytelling strikes again! This was a powerful story about family, secrets, forgiveness, mental illness, and letting go. Told from multiple perspectives and in dual timelines. 1996, Beth a new mother is struggling with all that motherhood implies. She is also dealing with her fathers progressing dementia. Late 1950s, Grace is also struggling with motherhood, made even tougher by the fact that she has four children under the age of four. It also does not help that her husband Patrick is not very helpful or supportive. Beth the youngest of four siblings has always been told that her mother Grace was killed in a car accident. But now that her father Patrick is in care she is cleaning and organizing the house when she discovers a locked room in the attic filled with secrets.
This was a well told and well researched story. I felt a definite connection with Beth especially because I had my first child in 1996 when her storyline took place. I also suffered from a mild case of postpartum depression after my second child was born and I could understand her plight. I found the dynamics between the siblings interesting. I also was compelled by Grace’s story and had a hard time just like Beth reconciling that her loving father was the same disconnected man that Grace was married to. There was a bit of a twist towards the end of the story with the introduction of a third narrator that I loved. This perhaps was not my favorite book by Kelly Rimmer, but it was definitely entertaining and worth the read.
This book in emojis 🏡 👶🏼 🎨 📓 🗝
*** Big thank you to Harlequin for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***
Rating: really liked it
3.5 Stars! Powerful, heavy, and compelling! TRUTHS I NEVER TOLD YOU by KELLY RIMMER was a story that really struck a chord with me even though I wouldn’t necessarily say that I enjoyed these characters or felt a strong connection to them. What I did feel was a strong personal connection to aspects of the storyline.
There is a lot going on in this book and lots of drama to deal with but with that being said I thought that the author excelled at her portrayal of postpartum depression here which was done extremely well. She made me remember the emotions and the hopelessness that I felt during that time. I wasn’t depressed while reading it or the subject matter didn’t wear on me, it just felt really real to me and I thought she did a great job with that part of the storyline.
I was entertained, engaged and glad that I read this one. I wouldn’t say that the story itself is memorable but the emotions and feelings that the storyline produced was.
I received a copy from the publisher on Edelweiss.
Rating: really liked it
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I think this might be a better fit for readers who really enjoy "mysteries" written in the vein of Liane Moriarty in the sense that the focus of the story is less on the payoff of the suspense and more on the relationship between characters in the home. TRUTHS I NEVER TOLD YOU is a domestic mystery that revolves around three women: Beth, Maryanne, and Grace.
Beth's father is suffering from cognitive decline due to complications from illness and Beth is in the process of cleaning out the family home. When she reaches the attic, she learns secrets about her father as well as her mother, who she believed died in a car accident when she was young. The truth might be infinitely more complicated, and leads Beth (and therefore the reader, by proxy) down a rabbit hole of family secrets and lies.
I thought the beginning of the book was good. Beth's narrative is sympathetic: she's a mother and a wife, but isn't as in love with the idea as she feels she should be. When she finds her mother, Grace's, letters, there's a sense of simpatico because she, a woman who was married in the 1950s, also seems to feel trapped and without options. Both narratives deal pretty heavily in the almost claustrophobic implications of traditional marriage roles and what that can mean for a woman. I liked the feminist bent to this novel and thought it had some interesting ideas which I wish had been explored a little more thoroughly and thoughtfully to that extent.
Without going into spoilers, I'll say that the ending was a bit disappointing. After reading 300+ pages and being mired in this mystery, I was hoping for something a bit more dramatic and shocking. Beth, Grace, and Maryanne never really popped off the page for me and remained cold and remote and interchangeable. I think TRUTHS I NEVER TOLD YOU tries to tell a feminist story of suspense, and I think maybe I would have liked this more if I hadn't just read Tanen Jones's THE BETTER LIAR, a book with a similar theme that does TRUTHS I NEVER TOLD YOU one better.
I'm not sure why this book was compared to Jodi Picoult as it isn't really. Even if you hate Jodi Picoult's writing, her books are heavily emotional (almost manipulatively so), whereas this one was cold and emotionless. I definitely think Liane Moriarty is a more apt comparison and if you enjoy her work, you will likely enjoy this one, as well. Best of luck to you.
Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review! 2 to 2.5 stars
Rating: really liked it
Beth Walsh was the youngest of the four siblings; Tim the oldest by only three years, with twins Ruth and Jeremy in between. Their mother Grace had been dead since they were toddlers and their father, Patrick had cared for them since. As a single father, he was devoted to his four children and as a result they were all very close. With Patrick having recently been moved to a care facility, ill with dementia and heart failure, the siblings were trying to come to terms with his imminent death. Beth in particular wasn’t coping. Her baby, Noah was only five months old and she was struggling with motherhood, determined to carry on regardless.
When Beth found loose papers in the attic of her father’s home, yellowed with age, which appeared to have been written by her mother, she was confused. The dates were wrong – she could remember her mother reading to her at bedtime; cuddling her when she was sad. But how could she remember when – according to the dates – she was too young?
Beth’s husband and siblings were worried about her – she wasn’t behaving rationally; had withdrawn from everyone. Their love and concern didn’t penetrate through Beth’s wall of despair – something would have to give…
Truths I Never Told You is another dynamic novel by Aussie author Kelly Rimmer. Postpartum depression can strike anyone – the research Ms Rimmer has done on this subject is obvious. Through the generations women have suffered in silence, while men, for the most, have been unaware of their partner’s raging thoughts. Now things are different from back in the mid to late 50s and into the 60s thankfully, because although postpartum depression is still with us, treatment is much further advanced.
Truths I Never Told You is a heartbreaking tale, touching, poignant as well as uplifting; the love that binds family members tight can sometimes break them apart. Told in the voices of Beth, Grace and Maryanne,
Truths I Never Told You is one I highly recommend.
With thanks to Hachette AU for my ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
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 an unforgettable story of motherhood, marriage, family and so much more and one you will find very difficult 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.
With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my digital copy to read and review.
Rating: really liked it
3.5 stars
This is the type of story that I felt a personal connection to but that might not be the case for every reader. I thought by far the strength of the book was how the author dealt with the topic of depression, specifically postpartum depression. I maybe had other issues with the book but the realistic portrayal of women battling depression made this a worthwhile read for me.
Beth Walsh dreamt of becoming a mother but now that she has a newborn, she has found she is struggling to adjust. Her father has dementia and has moved into a care facility, so Beth takes up the task of sorting thru his house and belongings in case the home ends up being put up for sale. Beth is surprised to discover journal entries from her late mother who died when Beth was a small child. What initially seems like a wonderful opportunity to get to learn about the mother she barely remembers, soon indicates there are some dark family secrets that have been kept for decades.
The story alternates between Beth as a mother in the 1990s and the late 1950s when Beth's mother, Grace, is struggling to raise her 4 small children. I thought the story was greatly enhanced by the author's decision to show the two different time periods and how a subject like postpartum depression was handled in the 1950s vs. the more modern 1990s era. Without getting into spoilers, there's another issue that is tackled in the 1950s storyline that at the very least is thought provoking and again gets you comparing the two different eras.
Even though I did feel for what Beth was dealing with as a new mother, I can't say she is my favorite female lead character. But I don't think you necessarily have to like a person to be able to understand and relate to some of their problems and therefore feel somewhat of a connection. Again, I really don't know if this is the book for everyone. Even though I got something out of it, other readers might find there just isn't enough here to sustain their interest.
I received a free advance copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
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.
Rating: really liked it
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**4.5 stars**
Truths I Never Told You by Kelly Rimmer. (2020).
1959. Grace is a young mother with 4 children under 4. It's all she's ever wanted but Grace struggles with her dark thoughts after childbirth. She pours her fears into a notebook, hiding them from her husband Patrick. When Grace falls pregnant again she turns to her sister Maryanne for help.
1996. Beth and her siblings have had to put their father Patrick into care after his dementia diagnosis. As she cleans his home, she finds a series of notes that indicate her mother may not have died in a car accident after all because the notes suggest something darker could have occurred...
I absolutely loved this author's last two books (Before I Let You Go and The Things We Cannot Say). Both of those stories left me in an absolute emotional wreck at the end so I went into this one knowing that it would likely pull at the heartstrings a bit. With postnatal depression, dementia, abortion and grief/loss all playing a main role in this book, yes you can absolutely expect it to have some kind of an effect on you. The book is told through three perspectives: Grace, Maryanne and Beth. I found Grace's truly heartbreaking, just imagining being in her circumstances made me extremely sad. However the descriptions of Patrick suffering dementia was equally heartbreaking and the thought of having my parents one day suffering like that bought tears to my eyes. I'd definitely recommend this novel for those looking for a heartfelt and sensitive book which you won't forget.
Rating: really liked it
ANOTHER SURE FIRE HIT FROM KELLY RIMMER
