Featured Image Credit: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Topics: Books, Crime, Jeffrey Epstein, News, US News, Virginia Giuffre, Prince Andrew, True Crime
Rhiannon Ingle
Topics: Books, Crime, Jeffrey Epstein, News, US News, Virginia Giuffre, Prince Andrew, True Crime
Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide and sexual abuse which some readers may find distressing.
Virginia Robert Giuffre's posthumous memoir, Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting, which documents the horrifying impact of convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplices, has finally been released today (21 October).
Giuffre, who is well-known for settling a sexual assault lawsuit against Prince Andrew, who has denied the claims made against him, in February 2022, tragically died by suicide at the age of 41 back in April.
Three years after coming forward with the accusations, the lawsuit Giuffre filed against the disgraced royal was settled out of court and resulted in Andrew paying Giuffre an undisclosed amount and making a substantial donation to her charity for victims’ rights.
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The surviving sex trafficking victim also pursued criminal and civil actions against disgraced Epstein and his long-time accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
The book publication comes six months after her passing, following an email stating she still wanted it to be released in the event of her death.
The 400-page autobiography was published with Alfred A Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House and was already planned before her death, as per The Guardian.
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The American publishing house said the memoir is still on track for release because it was the author’s 'heartfelt wish'.
"In the event of my passing, I would like to ensure that NOBODY’S GIRL is still released,” Giuffre said in an email sent to Knopf.
"I believe it has the potential to impact many lives and foster necessary discussions about these grave injustices."
The publisher has described Nobody’s Girl as the activist’s 'story told in full and in her own words' - a 'riveting and powerful story of an ordinary girl who would grow up to confront extraordinary adversity'.
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They wrote: "Giuffre offers an unsparing and definitive account of her time with Epstein and Maxwell, who trafficked her and others to numerous prominent men.
"She also details the molestation she suffered as a child, as well as her daring escape from Epstein and Maxwell’s grasp at nineteen."
The publisher has also shared details of her experiences with many of Epstein and Maxwell’s ''well-known' friends, including Andrew.
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On page 112 of the memoir, Giuffre recalled her alleged experiences when she was first enlisted as part of 'Epstein's entourage' and revealed the disturbing word Epstein made her say during sexual interactions.
She recounted a moment when, after she had 'satisfied Epstein sexually', she was escorted to an apartment in a building owned by his brother, Mark, on East Sixty-Sixth Street.
Giuffre wrote: "The one night I slept there I luxuriated in having my own space, but that freedom would be short-lived. The next day, I foolishly went out for a long walk, discovering New York City for the first time. But because I had no cell phone, Epstein and Maxwell couldn't reach me as I walked around for hours, filled with awe."
"I didn't know how much longer I would be seeing the world as part of Epstein's entourage, so I wanted photos to remember where I'd been," she continued.
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However, upon returning to Epstein's townhouse, Giuffre recalled that both he and Maxwell were 'pacing in the entryway, frantic'.
Epstein allegedly 'demanded angrily' where she had been, while Maxwell 'glared' at her.
"That was the last time I saw the Sixty-Sixth Street apartment," she continued to write. From that day forward, whenever we were in New York I would occupy a fifth-floor bedroom in Epstein's house: an enormous loftlike space, its carved mouldings coated in gold paint, that was dominated by a menacing wall-hanging that gave me the creeps-it showed wild boars feeding on the carcasses of other animals as a few screaming children looked on.
"There was also an intercom that Epstein used to summon me. I quickly learned not to keep him waiting."
Giuffre then went into detail about the 'sumptuous trappings of Epstein's homes'.
"I feel conflicted," she shared. "In too many media accounts, descriptions of Epstein's over-the-top lifestyle have fueled the perception that the girls Epstein victimised were lucky to find themselves in such surroundings. I don't want to add to that degrading narrative.
"To be sure, travelling with Epstein meant being introduced to a level of luxury I would never have experienced otherwise. And I will not dispute that it feels nicer to sleep under sheets made of premium Egyptian cotton, not low-rent polyester. But the comforts of Epstein's glamorous life - while I noticed and even enjoyed them - would come at a horrible cost to me."
Giuffre then revealed what made her feel 'most at home in this pedophile's world', adding: "Far more than Epstein's riches, it was the prior abuse I'd endured on humble Rackley Road.
"It's taken me a long time to understand that Epstein and Maxwell solidified their power over me by offering me a new sort of family," she continued, before opening up about the twisted 'family dynamic' the criminal duo enacted.
She stated: "Epstein was the patriarch, Maxwell the matriarch, and these roles were not merely implied. Maxwell liked to call the girls who regularly serviced Epstein her 'children'. She and Epstein once took me to a boat show in Palm Beach and spent the afternoon introducing me as their daughter, just for kicks.
"As bizarre as that sounds, it felt kind of good to me. Less good, given my history, was that Epstein sometimes insisted that I call him 'Daddy' during sex."
Writing that, at the time, she was 'hardly equipped to judge', Giuffre noted that 'it often seemed to me that Epstein and Maxwell behaved like actual parents'.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, 10am-8pm Monday to Friday. If you are a child seeking advice and support, call Childline for free on 0800 1111, 24/7.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact The Survivors Trust for free on 08088 010 818, available 10am-12.30pm, 1.30pm-3pm and 6pm-8pm Monday to Thursday, 10am-12.30pm and 1.30pm-3pm on Fridays, 10am-12.30pm on Saturdays and 6pm-8pm on Sundays.