To those who never had to hide a dirty secret, she seems strong and in control. She's well educated, living a good life and adored by a loving husband. But author Gina McCabe has opened a can of worms about child molestation that most want to keep the lid on.

Victims of abuse are trapped between two worlds, one ordering them to let go of the past, the other insisting they lick their wounds. Understanding that when there's no resolution, it's an uphill struggle for someone to freely move on, Gina dared to confront the darkness in her life and those responsible for it. Her book What If I Tell? expresses all the hurt, shame and anguish that goes with a life that should have been free from perverted hands.

She didn't sugarcoat her story; she shared all the pain and devastation she suffered. It could not have been easy to uncover the fact that relatives in some instances were aware of the abuse but chose to turn their heads. What could they have been thinking? Did they truly believe that the torment suffered would just fade with time? If anything, it follows the victims around, tugging at their self-esteem, making them feel second best. Eyes once innocent are replaced by suspicion when adults appear to be too close to a child. Their motive becomes suspect. Trust definitely has to be proven. Struggling to erase memories that have a choke hold on their lives, victims sometimes turn to vices -- drugs, alcohol, overeating -- to deal with the pain. Sadly, some become abusers themselves. Those that somehow manage to live productive lives despite their painful past should be applauded for coming to terms with what they cannot change.

Gina peeled away another layer of my emotions by stating that her brother Mike was a victim of sexual abuse as well. This brought tears to my eyes, because men are often denied the compassion they need. They are supposed to just shrug it off and get on with living. It's a well-known fact that people find it tough to come up with words to console victims so they use the forever line, "Just hold your head up and move on with your life. There's no doubt that they'll get theirs in the end for hurting you." But do they?

I do recommend this book; it's a tribute to all the sexual abuse victims that share the author's story.