Truths I Never Told You

 In Truths I Never Told You, Kelly Rimmer writes about a family of four adult children who are preparing for their father's death. Their father has congestive heart failure but also a brain disease. This brain disease is a form of dementia with aphasia (inability to speak) and obsessive behavior. According to some scientists Maurice Ravel, the famous composer, also had this brain disease when he wrote one of my favorite pieces of classical music, Bolero. Bolero is a 15 minute piece of music that basically repeats the same tune over and over again. The song starts out with a single flute and the slightest tapping of drum sticks on a drum. The next repetition of the tune has a clarinet followed by a trumpet with the violin players lightly plucking their strings and by the end of the song all the members of the orchestra are playing full blast including French horns, tuba, piano, and Chinese gong. I love that song. In any case, the father in this story is not a composer. He was a construction worker who eventually ran his own construction business. After turning over the reins of the company to his eldest daughter, he took up painting. He painted obsessively. After his death the children are cleaning out the house when they come upon a padlock on the attic door. Behind that door they find a huge mess that includes many paintings and some letters left behind by their mother who died when they were very young. Although they were told she died in a car accident, post-partum depression played a part in her death. They were never told about the post partum depression which is too bad because the youngest sibling is going through the same thing. In the case of this family the post partum depression seems to have a genetic component because three generations of woman in this fictional family experienced it. Being open about the problem would have been a huge help to the younger generations. The letters in the attic also reveal the fact that their father wasn't always the kind, loving man they knew. Early in his marriage he was selfish. When he didn't know how to handle his very sad wife, he chose to hang out with the construction guys after work at the bar. He spent his money on alcohol rather than providing for his family. After his wife died he felt remorse and turned his life around. This book was entertaining and thought provoking.