Book Review: ‘Truths I Never Told: A Novel’ By Kelly Rimmer

The Walsh family is having to face the fact that their dad is having to go to a care facility and he doesn’t have much time left. He has dementia and is declining fast. Once they move him they have to figure out what to do with his house. Beth Walsh, the youngest and mother of a six month old, decides she will start cleaning out the house. Beth has been acting strange since she had her baby and everyone is concerned about her. She says she is fine and starts cleaning out the house.

When she tries to get into the attic she finds it’s locked and can’t find a key. The door is taken down and once she and her sister see the attic they’re shocked. It’s a mess. Beth starts going through it and notices the paintings her father has done from many years ago. She also finds hand-written notes attached to the paintings in her mother’s hand-writing. She reads these notes and is shocked at what she’s reading. Her mother had issues she didn’t know about. She died when Beth was 2 years old, yet Beth seems to remember her. And her cause of death and date of death makes no sense from what she and her siblings were told.

Beth soon gets the help she needs and clues the family in on what she found. It leads to more questions than answers and they want to find out the truth about what happened all those years ago.

The story is told in various voices from the time that things happened. Starting in 1957 up when Beth found the notes and paintings in 1996. Told in alternating chapters in the voice of the characters, we learn exactly what happened all those years ago and the reader learns shocking details that have been kept quiet all these years.

At the heart of the book is family. It’s hard to lose a loved one and it’s also hard to admit you need help as Beth does. But the family is there for each other and the story is well-written using the alternating chapters. The reader is engaged right from the beginning and with twists and turns, it leads up to a shocking conclusion.

You can pick up Truths I Never Told You in stores on Tuesday, April 14th from Graydon House.