Reality television star Jill Duggar will tell the story of her controversial family in a memoir coming next year, People magazine reports.
Gallery Books will publish Counting the Cost, written by 19 Kids and Counting star Duggar with her husband, Derick Dillard, and Craig Borlase. The press says that Duggar and Dillard will “share their story, revealing the secrets, manipulation, and intimidation behind the show that remained hidden from their fans.”
Jill Duggar, 32, is the fourth child of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, a Christian couple in Arkansas who have 19 children. The family became famous for their reality show, 19 Kids and Counting, which aired on TLC starting in 2008.
In 2015, TLC canceled the show after it was revealed that the eldest Duggar child, Josh, had been accused of molesting children, including four of his siblings. Last year, Josh Duggar was convicted of receiving and possessing child pornography; he was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison.
Jill Duggar announced the book on Instagram, writing, “The challenges we have faced, including lack of respect for boundaries, greed, manipulation, and betrayal, are not that much different than what many people in our audience have faced. However, 15+ years of reality television, undergirded by secrecy and lies, is tantamount to pouring gasoline on the fire of our struggle. Thanks to time, tears, truth, and therapy, God has begun to heal our wounds into scars. Though we would have never chosen this path, and it has cost us dearly, we want to use our voice to show others that there is hope beyond the pain.”
Counting the Cost is scheduled for publication on Jan. 16, 2024.
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
