OBJECT: A Memoir of Childhood Abuse and a Shocking Cover-Up at the Highest Ranks of Government received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Following find an interview with author Kristin Louise Duncombe.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
OBJECT: A Memoir of Childhood Abuse and a Shocking Cover-Up at the Highest Ranks of Government was published in August, 2024.
What’s the book’s first line?
You are twelve years old; it is dusk on a weekday evening, and your parents are drinking gin and tonics in the living room.
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
OBJECT is about the sexual abuse of a young girl by an American diplomat, who was then protected by the United States government. The book explores the psychological impact of the abuse in real time, and the ripple effect for years thereafter in the author’s adult relationships. Because the abuser continues to rape and molest children for years thereafter, until he is stopped, OBJECT is also a true-crime account of “justice” finally being served.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
I was inspired to write the book when the USA Gymnastics/Larry Nasser abuse case went public. The fact that multiple gymnasts had reported Nasser, and yet he still proceeded with impunity, was such a repeat of what I lived as a child that I was overcome with fury. All of this played out at the same time I started dating, in my early fifties, after a long marriage. I quickly discovered that the issues I had faced with men as a young woman had not changed: (some, not all) men refusing to take no for an answer and being sexually aggressive. I went out with someone a few times that turned out to be a wolf in sheep’s clothes. When I told him I didn’t wish to see him again, he blew up my phone with verbally abusive text messages, calling me a b**ch and a c**t, and sending me photos of another woman, asleep/passed out, naked, in his bed. I felt enraged and had a few weeks of emotional turmoil…and then I sat down and started writing.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
The main reason anyone should read the book is because the story is universally relatable to all women. Not all women have been abused as children, but show me any woman who has not faced harassment or the constant awareness of potential sexual aggression, and I will eat my hat. Sexual violence is ubiquitous; it is on a spectrum from subtle sexism to violent assault, and the impact on women’s lives is enormous. My story is a very concrete one about recovering from complex post traumatic stress, and learning to take care of myself more effectively in a world that continues to throw punches at women. Men should read the book to understand what it is like to be a woman, because even though not all men rape and abuse, all women are targets, and we need the good guys to show up for us more, and better. That there is not a larger movement of men speaking out against sexual violence is not, I believe (and hope), because of disinterest, but because maybe they don’t totally “get” it. And finally, people should read the book because even the most difficult stories are multidimensional: there is plenty of good humor in the book that anyone who has dealt with online dating will appreciate!
When did you first decide to become an author?
I don’t remember “deciding” that; it was just something I always “knew,” from early childhood. I was a voracious reader and wrote my own stories as a kid. At a certain moment around age eight I concluded that I wanted to be just like Judy Blume when I grew up. She is still one of my literary heros! I didn’t get serious about publishing a book, however, until I was in my late thirties. I had a health scare that left me with two very clear terror-points: that I would die before my kids grew up (they were one and seven at the time) and that I would die without having written the book that I had been writing in my head for almost a decade.
Is this the first book you’ve written?
No, this is my third book. I am a memoirist and my first book, TRAILING, came out in 2012. It is the story of what happened when I met a sexy Argentinian doctor and abandoned all of my plans to “trail” him on a medical mission in East Africa with Doctors Without Borders. My second book, FIVE FLIGHTS UP, came out in 2016 and is the story of leaving – and coming back to – my marriage after discovering my husband’s affair, making a new life for our family in France, and finding myself after losing my identity as a “trailing wife.”
What do you do for work when you’re not writing?
I am a psychotherapist and life coach.
How much time do you generally spend on your writing?
When I am working on something I tend to spend every single spare minute on it, and will write for long stretches most weekends. This is how I wrote OBJECT. However, it is not a good model and I would like to become a writer that has a daily habit of short and concentrated focus. This is my plan for the book I am currently thinking about writing!
What’s the best and the hardest part of being an indie?
The best part of being an indie author is not having to constantly wait around for permission to release your story into the world (though with every one of my books I lost time trying to get past the gatekeepers of the traditional publishing industry). The worst part is the struggle for legitimacy, and the prejudice that is still held against books published by indie authors.
Would you go traditional if a publisher came calling? If so, why?
This is an interesting question because it happened with my last book. I had just hired a person to do my cover and interior when a small press I had queried a year earlier (yes! A year!) reached out and said they wanted to publish my book! I was thrilled! Overjoyed! All of my dreams were coming true! Then I saw the contract: No advance, only 12% royalties, and I would still have to do all the marketing myself! I tried to negotiate the contract, but the message was clear: we are a small press, we don’t have a budget, and this is the best we can do. I agonized over it for a few days because I was weighing “legitimacy” over signing away my rights to the book, and getting next to nothing in royalties. In the end, I turned them down.
Is there something in particular that motivates you (fame? Fortune?)
I am definitely not motivated by fame (in the sense that I am a very private person – in spite of writing very personal memoirs – and I hate crowds, so I can imagine how horrid it is for famous people to be recognized and hounded in public). Fortune? Well, more money would be great because even though I love my work as a therapist, if I had more money I would work much less and have more time to write. But I have a very simple lifestyle and don’t need money for fancy purses, cars, etc. What really motivates me is telling stories that help other people – namely, women – lead happier and more fulfilled lives.