Things We Didn't Say

By: Amy Lynn Green

Narrated by: Leah Horowitz

Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's Summary

Headstrong Johanna Berglund, a linguistics student at the University of Minnesota, has very definite plans for her future...plans that do not include returning to her hometown and the secrets and heartaches she left behind there. But the US Army wants her to work as a translator at a nearby camp for German POWs.  

Johanna arrives to find the once-sleepy town exploding with hostility. Most patriotic citizens want nothing to do with German soldiers laboring in their fields, and they're not afraid to criticize those who work at the camp as well. When Johanna describes the trouble to her friend Peter Ito, a language instructor at a school for military intelligence officers, he encourages her to give the town that rejected her a second chance.  

As Johanna interacts with the men of the camp and censors their letters home, she begins to see the prisoners in a more sympathetic light. But advocating for better treatment makes her enemies in the community, especially when charismatic German spokesman Stefan Werner begins to show interest in Johanna and her work. The longer Johanna wages her home-front battle, the more the lines between compassion and treason become blurred - and it's no longer clear whom she can trust.

©2020 Amy Lynn Green (P)2020 Recorded Books

Unique and Beautiful

Given the unique format of story telling (that of letters between various individuals during WWII), I thought I would struggle with paying attention or getting connected to the characters. Such was not the case and I thoroughly enjoyed every chapter of this beautiful book! has some introspective and thought provoking concepts, as well as heartwarming and encouraging. Would highly recommend, especially as maybe a fun book to go along side the technical historical books for teaching history of WWII.

Unique look at the home front during WWII

First off, great narration. That can really make or break an audiobook.

This was a very unique look at life in small-town America during the war, and what it might have been like to have a POW camp move into said town and the disruption that entailed. I understand that though this is historical fiction, it's based on a lot of real events and places. I had never really thought about POW camps in America, or realized so many were scattered about small towns in the Midwest

The epistolary style took a minute to get used to (think "Dracula" as an example), but once I got in the groove it was a great way to tell this story.

Really good performance. Sort of boring story

Loved the narrator. She did a great job. But I like my books to have a lot more. This was a very mild, very G rated book. So it was a little boring to me.

worth reading

I like historical fiction but the books that I read usually involves spies or things blowing up. This book is not like that, but it kept my attention the whole time and I loved the ending. The story telling was also unique. it was a good a read!

Phenomenal. A must-read

One of the finest literary works about WWII in America I've ever read. Probably THE best. Great characterization and excellent research.