A young girl is abused by her Catholic priest. For years she tells no one, striving to meet her parents and teachers’ expectations that she be a Good Girl—passive, obedient, and devout.

When she learns as an adult that she was not his only victim—there were dozens more—the ensuing criminal trial threatens to overwhelm her. Disassembled by the abuse, she finds community working in an underground hospice for men dying from the still-taboo HIV-AIDS epidemic of the 1980s. In their midst, she recognizes the damage wrought by shame and silence, but she also finds incredible courage and love.

A profound story of finding your voice and healing what feels irrevocably broken.

Renée D. Bondy taught in Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Windsor, where she facilitated courses on queer activism, women and religion, and the history of women’s movements. Her writing has appeared in Herizons, Bitch, Bearings Online, and the Humber Literary Review. She is a graduate of the Humber School for Writers. Renée lives in Chatham, Ontario. [non]disclosure is her first novel.

Renée D. Bondy's profile page

“Atmospheric… [non]disclosure follows a survivor as she advocates for fellow abuse survivors in an intimate way.”

Foreword Reviews

"As the narrator weighs whether or not to join the others in telling her story, she learns the insidious power that secrets have to fracture families and communities—as well as how healing might be possible. In the novel’s afterword, Bondy reveals the novel’s inspiration as a real-life case out of Chatham, Ontario, and her desire to explore the lesser-known stories of female victims of church abuse. The necessity for home hospice networks for AIDS patients in the 1980s was also, sadly, very real. Bondy’s decision to juxtapose the two scenarios gives the novel much of its power."

Kirkus Reviews

“With a historian’s thoughtful attention to context and detail and a storyteller’s gift for evocation and immersion, Renée D. Bondy has composed a powerful narrative that pushes our horizons of understanding. These skills are married to the palpable spirit of a writer propelled by empathy, integrity, and love. In Bondy’s hands, hope feels worth the risk.”

Susan Holbrook, author of Ink Earl

"Riveting and powerful, Ontario-based author Renée Bondy explores themes of silence, complicity and trauma in her short but intense debut novel about a young woman abused by a Catholic priest….Bondy’s breadth of knowledge and deep compassion for her subject comes through in every one of her beautifully written sentences….Bondy’s tightly written prose is deceptively simple to read. While she never wastes words, each one is chosen deliberately, giving her story incredible punching power."

Winnipeg Free Press

"A superb work! [non]disclosure by Renée D. Bondy speaks to us of the struggle of the individual to maintain hope in the face of institutional self-interest and actionable blindness. In her first novel, Bondy has accomplished something quite astonishing: a compelling meditation on the power of kindness told in an engrossing narrative with palpably real characters."

André Narbonne, author of the Scotiabank Giller Prize–nominated Lucien and Olivia

“A true masterclass on the power of solidarity and how community can either sustain us or drag us under. Equal parts gut-wrenching and beautiful, [non]disclosure is a powerful novel that sticks with you. A must-read.”

Julie S. Lalonde, author of Resilience Is Futile: The Life and Death and Life of Julie S. Lalonde

"It's time to dig out a sweater and cosy up to a good book... Renée D. Bondy felt compelled to cast a spotlight on common issues surrounding abuse and, hopefully, to spark discussion.... Through a close friend who falls ill during the HIV-AIDS crisis of the 1980's, [the protagonist] has become involved in hospice care, and it's not long before she sees a parallel between the deadly silence that allows AIDS to flourish and the toxic silence that allows the Church to cover up abuse."

National Post