Kate’s 2¢: “Truths I Never Told You: by Kelly Rimmer

“Truths I Never Told You: by Kelly Rimmer

   I down-loaded this book upon the recommendation of a Behind Our Eyes colleague, so her review is below. The dynamic story faces the reality of genetically predisposition toward post-partem depression, abortion, and the right of a woman to choose.

Beyond the Book Jacket By Bonnie Blose

From The Blind Perspective September 2021 Volume 7 Issue 9

   “Truths I Never Told you: is a page turner. It will keep your interest, rouse your empathy, and you will love the struggling family it portrays.

Life is built on what parents and grandparents tell us about ourselves.  We trust all we are told about our birthday, age, name, background without question.  In moments of anger and misunderstanding, we wonder if the hospital made a mistake and imagine a friend’s parents or the perfect family on Tv our real parents. Nice fantasies are just that and the imaginary control we exercise where life would be perfect.

Bethany Walsh seems to have it all, but of course she doesn’t. Married to the man she loves and mother to a five month old son Noah, she has a close relationship with her sister and brothers. This is a family who truly loves and looks out for one another.

Clouds are on the horizon. Her father says “everything changes.” How much and when those changes begin are the factors which upset our lives and fill life with questions.

Beth suffers from postpartum depression and has little knowledge of her birth mother. For years, she has no reason to question what she was told. Her mother died in an accident when Beth was too young to remember her. As she struggles, she doesn’t understand why she isn’t thrilled to be Noah’s mother or why she wants to spend time away from him as much as she can.

When Beth’s father develops dementia and heart disease, a decision is made to place him in a facility where he will get the care he needs during his last days. Beth grabs the opportunity to clean out his house so it can be sold and finds notes detailing the unhappiness and depression of her mother. Did she die in an accident as her father claims? Who was the woman she remembers who loved and cared for her and her siblings when they were little? Is there a relationship between her mother’s unhappiness and her own in being a parent? Where is the final note which might explain everything? Was her father the loving caring one she knows or are there secrets in his past which would reveal him as an altogether different man and husband?

Close families work through problems and the Walsh family has much to learn.

I remember reading books in which pioneer women were isolated by geography. Without schools, neighbors, or churches, they led a lonely existence driven mad by too much time alone and worry over all they could not control.

Postpartum depression isolated some in our more modern time. Every little girl wants to be a mother. Is that really true? If she wants a career instead or a life without children, no one understands. “Truths I never told you” are about three women who struggle to live with beliefs far different than the norm. With no one to talk to about how they really feel, they don’t know other women suffer with the sadness of being a parent. Motherhood remains foreign and strange. Depression covers what they know about themselves and cancels their ability to evaluate their success or failure as a parent. They long to end the pain. Doctors and husbands don’t understand the profound unhappiness which fills all their days. They are told they are worrying too much and the feelings of sadness will pass but have no reason to believe it will. They know having another child is not the answer.

When Beth’s mother discovers she is pregnant again, she knows she can’t go on living with a fifth child. She has nothing more to give. The well of motherhood in which she dwells is shallow and growing ever more so. Her sister helps her by giving her money and arranging an abortion. This is where the mystery and truth of this beautiful novel lie. As you read, you will ask yourself as I did how we can help those desperately depressed who start each day without hope. It is truly a sad journey and one each person travels alone.

There are drugs and therapy for postpartum depression now. We listen, understand, and accept far more than even just a few years ago.

It is knowledge which gives light. It is love which triumphs and holds a troubled person together. Love can truly do all things. It repairs the broken as much as that is possible and finds hope where there was none.

“Truths I never told you” has beautifully wrought characters and plot twists you won’t soon forget. It will fascinate and enlighten and make you glad you live now. Maybe it will make you aware someone somewhere is struggling as the women in this fine novel did. Maybe it will help you to reach out even if you don’t fully comprehend the position of another person. Pain and the truths we find are often found alone and are the beginning of resolution and strength we need to live and to love.

From her website:

Kelly Rimmer is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today and worldwide bestselling author of contemporary and historical fiction, including The Secret Daughter and The Things We Cannot Say.

Kelly lives in rural Australia with her family and a whole menagerie of badly behaved animals. Her novels have been translated into more than 20 languages.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Truths I never told you DB102014

Rimmer, Kelly Reading time: 11 hours, 44 minutes.

Jean Ann Douglass

Historical Fiction

Beth is cleaning her father’s home after settling him in a care facility and discovers loose pieces of a journal in her mother’s handwriting from the 1950s. Beth grew up believing her mother died in a car accident, but the journal hints at a darker truth. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.

Download Truths I never told you DB102014

Kate’s 2¢: “The Cruel Ever After” by Ellen Hart

“The Cruel Ever After” by Ellen Hart

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

    I started this book, but found I didn’t want to spend my time with these characters. I didn’t finish the book… just not my cup of tea.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The cruel ever after DBC27185

Hart, Ellen. Reading time: 8 hours, 45 minutes.

Read by Joy Fogarty. A production of Minnesota Braille and Talking Book Library.

Suspense Fiction

Mystery and Detective Stories

Jane Lawless’s ex-husband Chester comes back to Minneapolis after traveling the world. Now broke, he intends to make his next fortune selling an artifact from a Baghdad museum. But he wakes up next to the dead body of his potential buyer. Adult. Some descriptions of sex. Some violence and some strong language.

Download The cruel ever after