A harrowing account by the girl who suffered the abuse of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, and how she survived it.

Author:	Virginia Roberts Giuffre
Publisher:	London : Doubleday, 2025.
ISBN:	9781529985252 (paperback) 9780593493120 (hardback)
Characteristics:	xxvii, 367 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates: colour illustrations, colour portraits; 24 cm
Source:	Melbourne City Library
Date Read:	27-Mar-2026

Virginia Roberts Giuffre is the now well-known victim of billionaire Jeffery Epstein and his nefarious partner Ghislaine Maxwell. There have been many television items about the ordeal and the dreadful behaviour of those who should have been better including the former Prince Andrew.

As with many publicly known issues it was a worthwhile experience reading Virginia’s own words about her story, including why she kept going back to Epstein despite the ordeal, and the heartwarming victory and the end; and finally reconciling with her mother, who failed to protect her from her father and the wealthy predators.

Tragically for Virginia her father and one of his friends did things to her that should never happen to a young girl. Her father should have been protecting her, and when he had a chance to shadow her at an “interview” with Epstein he showed no interest.

Donald Trump

Virginia mentions Donald Trump a few times, once her father met him, and when Trump booted Epstein from the club where he tried to molest another member’s daughter. I don’t Trump had anything more to do with the issue.

Risk Factors

Virginia had most of the risk factors listed on the SOAR website.

Often, traffickers prey on victims’ vulnerabilities to create dependency. Significant risk factors include:

• a recent move or migration
• drug or alcohol use
• mental health concerns
• having experienced violence in the past
• unstable family life or involvement with the child welfare system
• being a runaway or homeless youth

Zorro Ranch is the only Epstein properly that Virginia finds some relief, she loves horses and Epstein’s chef, Adam Perry Lang, provides a reprieve from the strict diet brutally enforced by Maxwell with some fantastic pizza and an ear to listen.

Later on, she meets Robbie from Australia, and this partly explains why she ended up living in Western Australia. Robbie has lovely supporting parents, and he and his family provide the support Virginia needed to face up to her perpetrators. She does this mostly successfully, but it’s a long struggle.

Prince Andrew is dethroned but there a many more billionaires that have escaped punishment and are probably still practising their disgusting deeds.

Kodak Disposable Cameras

Virginia is taken to many exotic places when accompanying Epstein and Maxwell, and to document the travels she buys Kodak Disposable Cameras. It’s unclear why she prefers the cameras to be disposable, maybe she was afraid of being caught. Anyway, the cameras captured images that later on proved to be invaluable, including the one with Prince Andrew. He still denies ever meeting Virginia.

Conclusion

The book brilliantly fills in the details of Virgina’s ordeal, and it is well written and the text flows well.

At the end appropriate links are provided for those who may need them, plus a link to SOAR, Speak Out, Act, Reclaim; an organisation that Virginia helped set up.

Sadly, due to mounting health issues and the pressure and strain of fighting within the legal system Virginia committed suicide in April 2025. She did not see Prince Andrew being brought to justice for his actions.

Further Reading