Truths I Never Told You

Truths I Never Told You by Kelly Rimmer 352 pages

Be sure to have a hanky near when you sent off on this emotional journey through two women’s fight with postpartum depression. Book clubs will want to add this novel to their reading list, especially anyone who is a fan of Jodi Picoult, Kristen Hannah and Sarah Jio.

Beth Walsh has a six-month-old son. She and her husband have tried for years to have this child.  She expected the exhaustion and sleep deprivation, but the one thing she cannot reconcile is her lack of maternal instincts and feelings. It’s not that Beth doesn’t love Noah, she’s just not all that into him. Her heart doesn’t melt she looks at him, and sometimes she forgets all about him. She keeps delaying returning to work in the hopes that those motherly instincts kick in.

Part of Beth’s problem is that she has nowhere to turn. Her mother, who died when she was two, isn’t there to help her. Her sister makes mothering seems like the most natural thing on earth; she can’t reveal what’s really happening to Ruthie. She’s struggling alone, and her husband doesn’t see it.

That is part of Beth’s emotional baggage. At the same time, her father must be admitted to a nursing home due to dementia. Since Beth isn’t working and her three siblings are, she takes on the task of clearing out their childhood home.

She finds the attic door locked and must call a locksmith to let her in. What she finds inside turns her world completely upside down: it’s full to the rafters with her father’s paintings and trash. As she begins to clean, she discovers a note attached to a canvas.  A note written in her mother’s handwriting. This sets her off on new journey to find each note that goes with the canvases.

Interspersed with Beth’s narrative is what appears to be the notes, that were indeed written by her mother, Grace, in 1957. This was a little unclear if its was notes or a journal entry, but they were hard to read.  Grace was also suffering from deep postpartum depression.

As the novel progresses, Beth becomes obsessed with her mother, the notes, and trying to figure out exactly what happened to her.  It’s not helpful that Beth’s father cannot remember.

Author Rimmer takes reads on a dark journey to one family’s secrets and dark pasts. I can’t wait for someone I know to read this so we can chat about it.   “Truths I Never Told You” receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.