The Things We Cannot Say Summary: A WWII Story of Love & Sacrifice
Introduction
Kelly Rimmer’s The Things We Cannot Say centers on a grandmother’s final request and a granddaughter’s journey to uncover a hidden past.
When ninety-five-year-old Hanna loses her ability to speak after a stroke, she uses an iPad app to type two words: “Find Tomasz.”
This request sends Alice Michaels from her stressful life in Florida to rural Poland.
There, she searches for answers about a man in an old photograph. The novel moves between Alice’s modern-day struggles and Alina Dziak’s wartime experiences in Nazi-occupied Poland.
TL;DR
The Things We Cannot Say links two timelines.
In the present, Alice struggles to care for her nonverbal autistic son while her marriage strains.
In the past, her grandmother Alina survives Nazi occupation, loses her family, and escapes Poland with a secret that defines the rest of her life.
Key takeaways:
- Hanna’s stroke prevents speech but not communication. She types a plea that launches Alice’s investigation.
- Alina’s fiancé Tomasz sacrifices his own safety so she and a Jewish doctor can flee.
- The man Alice knew as her grandfather lived under a false identity for decades.
- The ending returns the family to Poland to bury Hanna’s ashes beside the real Tomasz.
Major themes include silence, maternal sacrifice, moral compromise, and generational healing.
The Things We Cannot Say Summary: The Full Story
Spoiler warning: This section reveals the full plot, including the ending.
The novel alternates between two voices. The modern timeline follows Alice Michaels in Winter Park, Florida. The historical timeline follows fifteen-year-old Alina Dziak in Trzebinia, Poland.
Alice’s days are consumed by caring for Eddie, her seven-year-old autistic son. Eddie does not speak. He communicates through an iPad app. Alice’s husband Wade works long hours as a nanotechnology scientist and remains distant from Eddie.
When Hanna suffers a minor stroke, she loses speech and writing ability. But she can still use Eddie’s communication app. She types “Find Tomasz” and “Need help. Emergency.”
Alice and her mother Julita find a 1941 photograph of a thin young man. He is not Hanna’s late husband. Confused but determined, Alice books last-minute tickets to Krakow, Poland.
In the historical timeline, Alina Dziak grows up on a family farm near the German border. She is engaged to Tomasz Slaski, a wealthy doctor’s son who leaves for medical school in Warsaw in 1938.
The Nazi invasion in September 1939 destroys this life. Soldiers publicly execute Tomasz’s father, Dr. Aleksy Slaski, and the town mayor. Alina helps place Tomasz’s young sister Emilia with her sister Truda and brother-in-law Mateusz.
Alina’s twin brothers Filipe and Stanislaw go to labor camps in her place. Both die during the war. Filipe is shot after protesting an injustice. Stanislaw dies of dysentery.
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Tomasz returns to Trzebinia starving and broken. He admits he was forced into the Wehrmacht and helped relocate Jews into the Warsaw Ghetto. He escaped through the sewers with a Jewish surgeon, Saul Weiss, and Saul’s wife Eva.
Tomasz hides in the Dziak family cellar. Alina’s parents have secretly stockpiled food there, trading on the black market. Tomasz uses the reserves to feed Saul, Eva, and their baby Tikva, who are hidden in a neighbor’s false wall.
Nazi soldiers eventually take Alina’s parents to Auschwitz. Just before Alina and Tomasz can flee, soldiers discover the hiding spot. They murder Eva and baby Tikva.
Tomasz decides to turn himself in. He knows the manhunt for him endangers Alina. He gives Saul his passport and tells him to escape with Alina under his name.
Alina and Saul travel sealed in a wooden crate, cross the Don River, and reach a Soviet refugee camp. Pregnant with Tomasz’s child, Alina agrees to marry Saul while he poses as Tomasz. The British later evacuate them to London and then America.
Saul lives the rest of his life as Dr. Tomasz Slaski, a pediatric surgeon in Florida. He raises Julita as his own daughter. Alina never tells anyone the truth.
In the modern timeline, Alice works with a guide named Zofia. They locate Tomasz’s surviving sister, Emilia Gorka. During a FaceTime call between Emilia and Hanna, the truth emerges.
The real Tomasz was executed in 1942. His family buried him on the hill behind Alina’s childhood farm. He was later honored as Righteous Among the Nations for saving Jewish lives.
Hanna dies peacefully shortly after Alice returns home. Ten months later, the whole family travels to Trzebinia. They bury Hanna’s and Saul’s ashes in Tomasz’s grave. Wade and Eddie have bonded in new ways during Alice’s absence.
Kelly Rimmer’s novel ends with a multifaith memorial service on the hill, bringing the family’s hidden history full circle.
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Books Like The Things We Cannot Say
- The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah — Two sisters resist Nazi occupation in France, focusing on female courage and family sacrifice.
- Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly — Three women’s intersecting lives during World War II explore resilience, camp survival, and post-war justice.
- The Alice Network by Kate Quinn — A dual-timeline drama linking a post-WWII search with a female spy network from World War I.
- The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris — A love story set near the same Auschwitz-Birkenau complex featured in Rimmer’s novel.
Summary by Chapter
Spoiler warning: This section summarizes each section in chronological order.
The book contains a Prologue, Chapters 1 through 40, an Epilogue, an Acknowledgments section, and an Author’s Note.
Prologue
A young Polish woman speaks her wedding vows outside a frozen refugee camp in Buzuluk, Soviet Union, in 1942. The priest is starved and uses moldy bread as a communion wafer. A choir of orphans sings a Polish hymn. The bride resolves to stay brave despite losing everyone she once loved.
Chapter 1
Alice deals with Eddie’s severe meltdown in a Florida grocery store after Go-Gurt changes its packaging. A kind elderly stranger calms Eddie by spinning a dreidel. Alice accepts the dreidel as a gift.
Chapter 2
Alina recalls falling in love with Tomasz Slaski on her family’s farm. Tomasz proposes before leaving for medical school in Warsaw in 1938. Alina’s mother gives her a gold wedding ring to keep safe.
Chapter 3
Alice finds Hanna awake but weak in the hospital. Hanna uses Eddie’s iPad app to type “Find Tomasz” and “Need help. Emergency.” Julita leaves to search for a box of mementos from Hanna’s retirement home.
Chapter 4
Nazi planes bomb Trzebinia on September 1, 1939. Alina’s family hides in their cellar. Alina witnesses the public execution of Dr. Aleksy Slaski and the town mayor.
Chapter 5
Alina takes Tomasz’s sister Emilia to Truda and Mateusz, who adopt her. Alina’s brothers leave for labor camps in her place to protect her.
Chapter 6
Alice struggles with Eddie’s food demands at the hospital. Wade brings the requested foods and offers to help with Callie’s schedule. Julita returns with the archive box.
Chapter 7
Hanna finds a sepia photograph of a thin young man from 1941. She types “No Pa. Find Tomasz.” Alice promises to travel to Poland.
Chapter 8
A young Nazi soldier stares at Alina with predatory lust after she forgets her identity card. Her mother warns her that rape is a weapon of war.
Chapter 9
Alina discovers her parents are hoarding food and trading on the black market. News arrives that both of her brothers have died in labor camps.
Chapter 10
Callie uses a derogatory slur about Eddie during an argument. Alice retreats to a bath with wine, her daily coping mechanism.
Chapter 11
Alina sneaks out past curfew after Justyna mentions Tomasz’s name. Someone chases her through the woods. The pursuer is a starving, bearded Tomasz.
Chapter 12
Hanna shows Alice a tiny leather baby shoe and a faded Polish letter. Alice decides she cannot let her grandmother down.
Chapter 13
Alina and Tomasz meet secretly at night through her window. Her father questions her. She invents a cover story about praying the rosary on the hill.
Chapter 14
Julita wonders if Pa might have been Jewish, since he never took communion. Hanna repeats her demand that Alice fly to Poland.
Chapter 15
Tomasz confesses he was coerced into the Wehrmacht and helped move Jews into the ghetto. He escaped with Saul and Eva through the sewers. He now helps hide them.
Chapter 16
Alina’s mother reveals a secret cellar packed with food. Her parents agree to let Tomasz hide there and use the food for his Jewish friends.
Chapter 17
Alina convinces Tomasz to hide in the cellar, using gentle blackmail. He agrees to come after dark.
Chapter 18
Alice and Wade have an explosive argument about his disconnect from Eddie. Alice impulsively buys airline tickets to Krakow.
Chapter 19
Wade reveals he hired a private Polish guide named Zofia. He encourages Alice to take the trip for herself.
Chapter 20
Tomasz hides in the Dziak cellar. He distributes food to hidden Jewish families at night. On Sundays, he stays silent beneath his visiting sister Emilia.
Chapter 21
Callie supports the trip, calling it “badass.” Julita throws a fit at the hospital. Alice changes the iPad settings to Polish for Hanna.
Chapter 22
Nazi soldiers storm the farmhouse. Tomasz and Alina hide in the cellar. After the soldiers leave, Tomasz reveals her parents were taken away.
Chapter 23
Tomasz says Alina’s parents were taken to Auschwitz. He insists they must flee Poland immediately. Alina reluctantly agrees.
Chapter 24
Alice spends thirty-six hours preparing a visual schedule for Eddie. Wade reassures her at the airport. She boards the plane to Poland.
Chapter 25
Alice explores Krakow’s Old Town. During a Skype call, she witnesses chaos at home but remains surprisingly calm.
Chapter 26
Alina accompanies Tomasz to deliver food to Saul and Eva. She cradles baby Tikva and feels shame for her past passivity.
Chapter 27
Tomasz explains that Henry Adamcwiz needs a courier to smuggle film of the camps out of Poland. Alina fantasizes about their postwar life.
Chapter 28
Zofia shares research that Tomasz’s parents were Aleksy and Julita Slaski. She found no birth records for Hanna Wisniewski or Saul Weiss.
Chapter 29
Henry details the escape route: a wooden crate, the Don River, and a train to Buzuluk. Alina sews her mother’s ring into her coat hem.
Chapter 30
Alice recognizes the farm and hill from Hanna’s stories. Hanna confirms via iPad that her real name is Alina Dziak.
Chapter 31
Tomasz and Alina find Saul cradling Eva’s dead body. Baby Tikva was shot in her mother’s arms. Tomasz insists Saul take his passport and escape with Alina.
Chapter 32
Alice meets Lia Truchen, who says Tomasz died in 1942. Alice argues with Wade after spotting six cans of soup on the counter.
Chapter 33
Saul and Tomasz apply a plaster cast hiding film canisters. Alina receives a forged identity card under the name Hanna Wisniewski.
Chapter 34
Alice sees Tomasz’s grave and a Righteous Among the Nations medal. She stages a sit-in at the clinic to force a meeting with Emilia.
Chapter 35
Alina and Saul survive the crate journey, cross the Don River, and board a cattle car train. At Buzuluk, Alina bribes a soldier with her mother’s gold ring.
Chapter 36
Alice explores the Tatra Mountains. She finds urgent messages from Lia and agrees to meet Emilia in Krakow.
Chapter 37
Alina realizes she is pregnant with Tomasz’s child. Saul offers to marry her in Tomasz’s place. British soldiers later collect them.
Chapter 38
Alice meets Emilia, who reveals Tomasz turned himself in and was executed. Alice realizes Pa was actually Saul Weiss.
Chapter 39
Alina finds a letter from Tomasz hidden inside her cast. Saul becomes a successful pediatric surgeon in Florida under Tomasz’s name.
Chapter 40
Hanna dies peacefully at the hospital. Eddie types “Babcia finished” at the exact moment of her death.
Epilogue
Ten months later, the family gathers in Trzebinia to bury Hanna’s and Saul’s ashes in Tomasz’s grave. Wade and Eddie have bonded deeply.
Acknowledgments
Kelly Rimmer thanks her aunt Lola Beavis for research help, autism expert Ashleigh Finch, and staff at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum.
Author’s Note
Rimmer explains the novel was inspired by her family history. She used her grandmother’s farm and the town of Trzebinia as direct models for the setting.
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Characters In This Book
| Character | Role |
|---|---|
| Alice Michaels | Modern-day mother who travels to Poland to fulfill her grandmother’s request. |
| Alina Dziak (Hanna Slaski) | Polish woman who survives Nazi occupation and escapes to America under a false identity. |
| Tomasz Slaski | Alina’s fiancé who sacrifices his life so she and Saul can escape. |
| Saul Weiss | Jewish surgeon who lives under Tomasz’s identity and becomes Alice’s grandfather. |
| Wade Michaels | Alice’s husband who learns to connect with their autistic son. |
| Eddie Michaels | Alice’s nonverbal autistic son who communicates through an iPad. |
| Callie Michaels | Alice’s highly gifted daughter who is protective of Eddie. |
| Julita Slaski-Davis | Alice’s mother, a district court judge raised by Alina and Saul. |
| Emilia Slaski (Gorka) | Tomasz’s younger sister who survives the war and provides key answers. |
| Jan Golaszewski | Neighbor who hides Jews in a false wall for gold and later betrays them. |
| Henry Adamcwiz | American photographer who helps arrange Alina and Saul’s escape. |
| Zofia | Alice’s Polish tour guide who helps research family records. |
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Layers of Meaning
| Theme | How the book presents it |
|---|---|
| Silence and communication | Eddie cannot speak, Hanna loses speech after a stroke, and Saul hides his Jewish identity under a false name for decades. |
| Maternal sacrifice | Alina’s parents send their sons to labor camps to protect her. Alina marries Saul and leaves Poland to protect her unborn child. |
| Moral compromise | Tomasz joins the Wehrmacht to protect his family. Jan hides Jews only for gold. Alina’s parents trade on the black market. |
| Generational trauma | Julita resents Alice’s choices. Alice feels isolated from Wade. The family heals only after learning the truth about the past. |
Story Snapshot
- Genre & Subgenre: Dual-Timeline Historical Fiction / Family Saga / War Romance
- Core Narrative Tropes: Dual Timeline, Hidden Identity, Ultimate Sacrifice, War-Torn Love, Raising a Disabled Child
- Tone & Atmosphere: Devastating, suspenseful, gritty, yet ultimately hopeful and peaceful
- Primary Conflict: Historical — Alina and Tomasz struggle to survive and resist under Nazi occupation. Modern — Alice balances domestic stress, marriage strain, and her grandmother’s quest.
- Pacing Style: The modern timeline is measured and character-focused. The historical timeline is rapid and dangerous. Objects like the dreidel, baby shoe, letters, and ring connect both threads.
- ISBN: 978-1525823565 (ISBN-10: 1525823566)
- Pages: 432
- Author Background: Kelly Rimmer is an Australian author of historical and contemporary fiction. She has written multiple novels centered on family, memory, and moral choices during wartime.
Memorable Quotes from The Things We Cannot Say
“I take you, Tomasz Slaski, to be my husband, and I promise to love, honor and respect you, to be faithful to you, and not to forsake you until we are parted by death, in fear of God, One in the Holy Trinity and all the Saints.”
“A Polish man is a Polish man”
“We’re better off dying with honor than sitting back to watch our countrymen suffer”
“Rape is a weapon, Alina. Just as killing our leaders was a weapon, and taking our boys was a weapon, and starving us half to death is a weapon.”
“You are the fire that keeps my heart beating and the fuel that has powered my dreams even through this war.”
“We are made for each other…meant to be together. It doesn’t matter what happens in this life or the next, Alina. We’ll always find our way back to each other.”
“Sometimes, if you want something badly enough, you have to smash the damn door down.”
“I got the son we got. I love him just the way he is, and I always will.”
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