The Crucible of Silence by Suzanne Milliesdottir takes the mask off the deeply disguised familial child sexual abuser. The face that is revealed is one of a person who lives a normal, law-abiding life and a secret one ― much like the author's college professor ex-husband. Milliesdottir describes both her practical and emotional journeys that followed her daughter's disclosure that she had been sexually abused by her father.

Most people underestimate ― if not entirely miss ― that the mother is a secondary crime victim. The author's compelling story, told from a mother's unique perspective, serves as a prism through which the hidden human story buried in a single case statistic may be viewed and understood. This is the fuller story that emerges from the silence to speak to a variety of readers: