A daring critique of Western patriarchy and its control of women's bodies For centuries, incest has been framed as a private, shameful family matter—but it is also a systemic crime and a social injustice, with deep cultural, institutional, and political roots. In this shrewd and provocative manifesto, Susan Osborn examines the ordinary social, medical, and legal systems that allow incest to remain hidden and unaddressed. She’s Such a Liar offers a rigorous, accessible feminist analysis of the forces that silence women, obscure accountability, and normalize disbelief. By situating incest within broader systems of power and knowledge production, Osborn exposes why this pervasive—and often unspoken—form of sexual violence remains so difficult to confront. " She's Such a Liar is a seismic indictment of the powerful cultural, medical, and political systems that have kept incest hidden for centuries. Brave, incisive, and grounded in extensive research, Susan Osborn, Ph.D., names the truth most institutions refuse to confront, tearing the veil off a hidden epidemic and demanding we finally face what so many endure behind closed doors. Long overdue, this is an unflinching call to confront the entrenched systems that protect abusers and silence survivors." —Regina M. Calcaterra, Esq., New York Times best-selling author of Etched in Sand "A tour de force. Osborn's book exposes the medical suppression of incest and the institutional forces that have sustained it for centuries. Meticulously researched and elegantly argued, this book confronts the politics of trauma and shame, dismantles the myth of medical neutrality, and calls for a cultural reckoning. This book could not be more timely." —Dawn Skorczewski, Professor of English emerita, Brandeis University, author of An Accident of Hope: The Therapy Tapes of Anne Sexton "Reading She's Such a Liar will make you furious. And then it will make you an activist. Susan Osborn's manifesto peels back centuries of male supremacist rhetorical and juridical strategies that have ever so conveniently invisibilized the father's role in perpetrating incest. Persuasively arguing that incest is not the medical problem of wayward girls but a systemic form of gender oppression, Osborn gives us the tools to dismantle the dominant discourses that continue to protect perpetrators at the expense of girls' human dignity." —Marcie Bianco, author of Breaking Free: The Lie of Equality and the Feminist Fight for Freedom "Osborn shows us in a beautifully written, concise volume that sexual violence against women, including incest, will never be solved until we lift the veil on the systems that support it. She invites us to rebuild a new culture that supports the equality of all, and disavows such violence completely and once and for all." —Susan Prout, co-founder, I Have the Right To "Meticulously researched and thoughtfully written, She's Such a Liar provides a vital and illuminating examination of how incest has been silenced across literature, medicine, and culture. Essential reading for feminists, clinicians, researchers, and advocates working in trauma and abuse recovery." —Heidi Yewman, author of Dumb Girl "Susan Osborn is an unstoppable force. Her latest book, She's Such a Liar , is a bold analysis of the systems that use sexual violence to oppress and subordinate women. I hope this work will be adopted by women's studies and gender studies departments globally." —Liz Alterman, author of the award-winning memoir Sad Sacked " She's Such a Liar is the phrase too many survivors hear when they tell the truth. Susan Osborn confronts the silence around incest and the systems that have helped keep it hidden." —Babs Walters, author Facing the Jaguar: A Memoir of Courage and Confrontation "In this bold and informative manifesto, Susan Osborn argues that incest is not merely a private family tragedy or a rare psychological aberration. It is a deeply embedded system of power—sustained by institutional complicity and the strategic discrediting of those who speak. Osborn exposes how Western social structures, particularly the medical establishment, rush to contain it. The result is a powerful machinery of disbelief that preserves hierarchy and suppresses knowledge. Clear-eyed and incisive, She's Such a Liar reframes incest as a problem of knowledge and power—and calls for a collective reckoning with the systems that make truth dangerous." —Jennifer Joy Freyd, Ph.D., Professor Emerit, Psychology, University of Oregon; founder and president, Center for Institutional Courage Susan Osborn, Ph.D.,  is a prominent voice in gender, literature, and cultural criticism. An award-winning author, educator, and speaker, her work bridges feminist scholarship, activism, and storytelling. Her writing has appeared in  The New York Times ,  The Washington Post ,  The Village Voice ,  American Scholar , and  Mothering.  Her acclaimed books include  Surviving the Wr