The history of the rape kit was intriguing and informative. With a little mystery to keep it entertaining while detailing a very difficult subject. Marty Goddard created the rape kit in the early 1970’s and this takes a deep dive into where and how the kit got its start. A pioneer of her times, Marty was all go, go, go until she seemed to disappear. In the end, the mystery is solved. Thank you NetGalley for the advance copy.

Incredibly informative and devastating at the same time. Truly a painful but necessary read - I tore through it, feeling a relatable pang most other women will as they read

I found this to be so fascinating and informative and gives insight to something many people don't think twice about. The stories that led up to the rape kit invention is so sad and upsetting but it's reality, and I think it's something everyone, men and women, should learn and study

This is the story of an unsung heroine: Marty Goddard. It is likely that, until the reader has consumed this text (and it is compelling reading), this name will be unfamiliar. Considering Goddard's mission and accomplishments, her name should be commonly known; however, even her creation, the first rape kit, was named for another person, a male police officer, not Marty Goddard.

This book is one author's search into the illusive life of Marty Goddard, a woman who single-handedly pushed the first domino to set off a string of reactions, the beginning of great change for women and their right to respect on all levels. We read, though, how change for Marty, as for women in general, does not and did not move forward in great leaps and bounds.

In this novel, the author adds her own history as well as Marty's. She presents the history of respect for women, the evolution of the definition of rape, how accusations of rape were mishandled and ignored, the evolution of rape kits, and more. The novel moves up through time into the MeToo movement and beyond. The novel does not end with Marty's death, but, after it, as the author has been compelled to find and interview Marty's relatives and friends still living.

I teach a university course on the rhetorical strategies used to present serial killers to the public as icons of popular culture. While the course is not true crime, the content lends itself easily to the patterns and practices of actual serial killers--and to the profile created by the FBI's Behavioral Unit. This book adds insight and vital information into this profiling, filling in many gaps.

Marty Goddard is an unsung hero. Kennedy's book must be read! Do not miss it.

Wow. Very interesting book, especially reading it in the POV of a woman in today's age. It is heartbreaking to read about what women went through to get to the point that they're at now, for example being judged whether or not she asked for it before anything would be investigated. Absolutely heartbreaking. Very heartbreaking that a guy would take credit for the work of what a woman did.
Very poignant book with an interesting history.

This book is dutifully researched, incredibly well-written, and utterly unforgettable.

In this book, Kennedy delves into the history of the rape kit's invention and implementation in 1970's Chicago by Marty Goddard. Through intricate descriptions and lengthy research, Kennedy achieves a high standard of journalistic writing that celebrates both the tenacity and intrigue behind one woman's journey of changing the way sexual assault is handled in America.

Though Goddard's history often relies on threads of speculation by friends, family, and interviewers alike, the core legacy of her contribution to forensics remains, elevating her to a high status that she never achieved during her lifetime.

Though this book is often upsetting due to its unflinching depictions of negligence and ignorance that survivors suffered through, it offers a coherent history of the life and contribution of one woman who changed the course of forensics for the better.

Thank you to the publisher for this e-arc; this book will be published on January 14, 2025.

The subject matter of this book is really tough but I thought the author did a great job in writing about the history of forensics and the use of the rape kit for investigating sexual assaults. The writing was propulsive and I learned a lot. Thank you to the author and publisher for this advanced reader copy. 4 ⭐️

A fascinating look at an unfairly forgotten feminist hero, Marty Goddard, whose determination, grit, and empathy led her to develop the rape kit. Pagan Kennedy does an excellent job of bringing Marty to life.

Content warnings: extensive descriptions of sexual assault, including graphic recollections of the author's own trauma.

Fascinating and forgotten aspect of feminist history- I really enjoyed how Kennedy shared historical accounts of rape in the 70s and 80s and why Marty had to use a typical "male" name to get through doors that were otherwise shut for women. I also appreciated the exploration of race and rape/police violence (big sigh that things have barely changed). The historically rooted accounts were fascinating to read, however, Kennedy's exploration and own story kind of missed the mark for me. Because the history of the rape kit is not well known and wasn't well documented, I can see why Kennedy needed to include their own stories and adventure to track down Marty. I just feel that Kennedy's account took away a bit from the purpose of the novel. Kennedy's accounts made the novel read as a "let's find this person" rather than a "here's how we arrived at our present date rape kit". When I read the historical accounts, I was incredibly fascinated and engaged with the text, otherwise it fell short for me.

A fascinating study of the history of the rape kit.a extremely important investigative tool in rape investigations.A mix of a memoir and a scientific study I was fascinated by this story.#netgalley #knopf

There are respectful ways of discussing rape and sexual assault, and of telling the stories of the victims and survivors of these kinds of events. This book fails greatly to meet my expectations in either arena.

Kennedy claims to write this book as a "history" of the rape kit, and of the woman who invented it, Marty Goddard. But she spends much of the book describing her own experiences of sexual assault in a way that makes this feel very much like trauma porn and adds absolutely nothing to the story she claims to be telling. One minute, you will be reading about the struggles and successes Goddard faced as a woman trying to make a difference in how rape victims are treated and the evidence of the crimes against them are handled; the next, you will be thrust into a random and incredibly graphic story about Kennedy talking on the phone with a pedophile who had claimed to be her doctor when she was a child, or being held down and tortured in a basement by the sons of her mother's friends as a young teenager.

She also praises a number of TERF (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist, or people who base their intolerance of transgender people on a hatred of men and a belief in "traditional" womanhood and the "divine" feminine, which is, at its roots, deeply misogynistic) organizations, and perpetuates the myths that men can't be raped and rape is an act of violence only used against women.

Even in the sections which do focus on Goddard's story, much of Kennedy's claims are largely based on speculation and heavily steeped in her own biases rather than actual evidence, which is unfortunately scant, as she admits. I will say that I'm grateful that she is at least somewhat aware of this, as she discusses multiple times her fantasies about herself and "Marty" (Kennedy unprofessionally insists on calling Goddard by her first name, stating that she believes them to be friends despite never having met, and Goddard being dead well before Kennedy even heard of her) bringing each other to justice, and Marty being a surrogate mother to her who would be better to her than her own mother, who Kennedy admits to shrugging off and putting away in a nursing home the moment she became inconvenient, while also, ironically, being horrified at the idea that someone might have put Marty in a nursing home.

While there is some excellent information present in this book about the history of forensics and sexual assault investigation, and of sexual assault care following the advent of the rape kit, it is, unfortunately, not enough to redeem this book in my eyes, or for me to ever recommend it to anyone. This is not a history of the rape kit, nor is it a biography of Marty Goddard; it is a story by a woman who, instead of going to therapy, obsessively catalogues her trauma and then releases it to the world under the guise of social justice.

A great combination of facts and personal memoir about a devastating topic. I think this author does a great job of highlighting the discrimination and other injustices that have plagued victims of sexual assault.

This is a really intriguing book. I read it in one sitting - couldn’t put it down. So much history in such a short book. Highly recommend.

This, I believe, is a must-read book. Reading the story of Marty Goddard and her strides and determination to create the kit to help women who have been assaulted is a true story of feminism and trying to make the world a better place where justice can be served to those who have done the unspeakable to others. This book has so much history in it and also shows how more work needs to be done with believing those who have been assaulted and how to help further. This book covers a lot of hard topics but I think this shows the sad history and reality of the world and how we can use our history as women to continue to fight and take what generations before have given us to protect future generations

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

I hate the word “unputdownable” ( and also the way Italian is spoken at Starbucks, but that’s a digression). It’s not the lazy, amalgamated word. I don’t like being told how to feel about a book. Also “unputdownable” isn’t as good as a book can get.

The Secret History of the Rape Kit is better than a simply “unputdownable” book with tight pacing and clever plot twists. This is captivating, “she-had-me-at-hello” non-fiction. I was forced to occasionally put it down so I could digest what I had just read. This book was awe-inspiring, triggering a wide range of different emotions in fits and starts. I’m not sure how it would be for unraped people. But it’s not really their book. It's one tiny piece of the world that’s by, for, and about people like me.

I write “true crime for survivors,” which is normally a rather lonely shelf amid the ocean of exploitation. So as Pagan Kennedy discusses in this book, I felt very “un-gaslighted” while reading this. It was very different. I was forced to take breaks, to breathe it all in, and allow things to settle. I’m so used to my version of reality being constantly ignored, attacked, and denied – as Kennedy discusses throughout. This book was so much to absorb. It walloped me.

Maybe it’s because I wasn’t prepared for this story to hit quite so close to home. It’s set in the same time, place, and neighborhood where my own abuse story took place: North Halsted Street, Chicago, 1970s. Marty Goddard (the real inventor of the rape kit) even intersected with my friend Wendy Huggy’s (who was kidnapped/murdered and ignored by the police) mother’s employer: Playboy.

I had no idea that the rape kit was conceived in my backyard. I was stunned by the personal synchronicity. I was also amazed by the story of Marty Goddard and her contribution to forensics. Kennedy did a great job of revealing why she yielded the credit for it. She wrote a terrific blend of law, sociology, and personal history here.

I’m grateful to NetGalley for making this book available for review. Because it’s a treasure for survivors like me. As an older survivor who grew up in the time and place described herein, this was a balm for my weary soul. The un gaslighting aspect of this book alone is a wish-fulfilling jewel that now exists on the internet forever. This collection of truth and validation is an interpersonal resource that nobody can take away from us. Every survivor she discusses in the book, all of us who can relate to them, who remember those days, we’re all that much realer now.

The research Kennedy did for this book was truly stellar, the personal histories of individual survivors and work of various scholars contained herein. She hit the perfect blend of good journalism and personal contribution, putting her own skin in the game. She found some truly remarkable information about a story that is still grossly unreported – about the massive rape kit backlog, which I also wrote about in my book, and where things stand post-pandemic. Goddard’s vision continues to evolve with society in ways she chose not to know about. I’m glad I got updated on things I didn’t know about the current state of rape culture and how people are fighting back.

And Kennedy found so many stories inside the main substory of the huge, mostly untold tale I described above. The rape kit backlog is one big, shameful pile of forced silence, really.

But she did a tremendous job of distilling the story of Martha Goddard, the inventor of the rape kit, into this fascinating, un-gaslighting marvel that twisted me around inside the whole time I was reading it. Marty Goddard was right in my neighborhood during my darkest days, giving every one of her f*cks when nobody did, and I had no idea. It means a lot to me to know this.

I so seldom find nonfiction that hits this kind of thriller note while also dropping so many facts, and on such a broad variety of people and topics.

I’m grateful to Pagan Kennedy for her diligent research, her excellent writing, and for sharing so much of herself. Most of all, for letting me know who Marty Goddard was. I can’t wait to buy this in hard copy..

When reading this book, it didn’t feel like a true non fiction book. the switching back and forth between Marty Goddards life and the authors was good to me, and the fascination this woman had of the other was riveting to read. It might seem boring to some people, but this is a true crime book. True crime is the fact that even though Marty was a big part of criminal justice history in America, especially for victim rights, it shocks me I have never heard her name until now. This book opened my eyes to men being named for patents of inventions that woman have created. The book was awesome, and perfect, in my opinion, the way it was. The author deserved her story to be heard, and told us the story of a woman who vanished from the history books. Kennedy does a great job in telling history, and I hope she continues to do this more. The box that can help convict a sexual assaulter has been so controversial, and can leave you wondering why someone would make it. This book tells you why.

Thank you, NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor publishing for this advanced reader's copy.
I absolutely loved this book! I loved learning about the history of the rape kit, how it came to be and how far we have come as a society since the making of the kit. Learning about Marty's story and how she devoted so much to make this kit available was astonishing, to see her dedication that gave women their voices back on this matter was inspiring. While the subject was unsettling at times, without Marty and her story I can only imagine where we would be today. The story flowed nicely and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I couldn't put it down!

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for a free ARC of this book. This book will be released 1/14/2025.

This is a well written, fascinating depiction of the story behind the development of the rape kit in the 1970s. Marty Goddard was a force to be reckoned with, and she helped change rape cases forever. Knowing how things are run now (which could still use some work) and how things used to be was unsettling. Grateful for these female pioneers who used whatever method they needed to help victims and to change the perception of rape overall.

Trigger warnings include rape, abuse, and alcoholism.

This is a difficult subject that needed a book like this. It is beyond belief that the first rape kit was not available until the early 70's. Women were treated with indignity after a life changing, horrific event. Once can see why some go unreported.
There are still problems today. The backlog is shameful, and there has to be a way to clear these, and likely bring about justice.

Thank you, NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor publishing for a digital copy of this ARC. All opinions are my own.

The Secret History of the Rape Kit is that, but it is more, to the extent that the title feels limiting. It discusses the origins of the forensic tool for sexual assaults that we colloquially call the rape kit, originally the Vitullo kit, now by a variety of names. It also is a survivor's statement in itself, the biography of Marty Goddard who at least deserves shared credit with Vitullo in its creation, a consideration of the sociological implications of technology, a survey of modern developments in sexual assault forensics, and a consideration of modern and historical views on sexual assault.

I am intentionally avoiding telling too much of the underlying story here as a rhetorical maneuver: a man doing that is sort of the gravamen of the book's complaint in the first place. I also am going to avoid picking the book apart into its components to review each, which explicates my criticism there in and of itself. It concludes strongly, but at points it feels more like an essay collection than a unified history.

The book offers a lot of information on the process of its writing, which adds to its quality and effect. Naturally, I wanted more writing on the sociological function of technology, particularly as it relates to gender. As the book notes, what is so interesting about the rape kit is not the technological function (remember, this predates the forensic use of DNA), but technology as process meant to shape the treatment of alleged sexual assault.

There was good information on the development of kit through time after its creation, including contemporary plans to make it more accessible and equitable, but I wanted a more rounded discussion there. The complaints there were dismissed too contemptuously, buried in a footnote. I can imagine the criminal justice concerns with some of the newer ideas, acknowledging that some of those are biased or non-serious, and thought it deserved a proper vetting.

The book leans too much on the destiny of biography, stacking supposition on inference to create a narrative (I think specifically of the miniatures here) and I did not like the treatment of Goddard's mental health. I have an advanced copy, but I hope that there are some further edits: there is some repetition of facts at points that I do not feel is intentional, and a few idiosyncratic descriptions of Chicago.

The history here is one that is important for you to read and understand, and the author presents it in a straightforward, occasional brutal, always informative way. Really, the problem here is the one central to the author's own story: the people who need to read this the most seem the least likely to.

My thanks to the author, Pagan Kennedy, for writing the book and to the publisher, Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor, for making the ARC available to me.