A woman from Trowbridge who has written a harrowing account of the child abuse she and her siblings endured at the hands of their father hopes her story will help other victims speak out.

Kerstin Fox decided to write Behind Bars: A Shocking Case of Depravity, under the name Elizabeth Renard, after her father, Donald Lear, was jailed for 14 years at Bristol Crown Court in 2010.

The 80-year-old was convicted of 23 sexual offences against his son and daughters, including the rape of Mrs Fox, now 55, when she was just 11.

Mrs Fox said a US publisher, Outskirts Press, was so shocked when she sent it the manuscript that staff asked her whether it was true.

She said: “This book has been four years in the making and when I sent it to Outskirts Press they emailed saying they were shocked.

“They asked if it was true, so I directed them to the court stories and then they said they would be honoured to publish it.

“It was a story that needed to be told, as my whole life changed in so many ways because of what happened.

“The feedback has been absolutely tremendous and people have been in contact to say that it is inspirational.

“Even those who have had good childhoods have come up to me and said it made them realise how good their parents were and it made them want to give them a hug.

“It was really difficult going back over everything, but I had written the notes about my experiences from the age of 20 as a way of getting it out my head and it did help.”

Mrs Fox, who has a husband and five children, said she hoped Behind Bars would show other victims they were not alone.

The book begins at the moment Mrs Fox took a call from police, informing her that her brother had reported her father’s abuse, before recounting her childhood and the court case.

Mrs Fox is now setting up a charity, the Historic Abuse Counselling Service, to provide support for anyone who suffered historic abuse.

She added: “The proceeds from the book will go towards helping the charity.

“The intention is to have counsellors who have been through abuse themselves and can empathise with those coming to us.”

Her book is available on Kindle or in paperback from Amazon.