I’m writing this review the morning after the news broke the Prince Andrew has lost his royal title and has been removed from his Royal home.
And I have to say that this is the side of the story I brought this book to read more about. I don’t do gossip columns and I tend not to take much notice of what the Royal Family are doing, but Andrew’s behaviour has intrigued me over the last few years.
But I got so much more from this book, and it’s left me feeling conflicted
Virginia Roberts Guiffre is undoubtedly a victim and tells gives her account of her life of abuse in a no holds barred manner.
Abused by her dad and a neighbour, raped by two boys, rapped by another older man and abusing drugs and alcohol before she even left school. At this point I see her clearly as a victim.
She’s uncertain of her age when she first encounter Ghislaine Maxwell, who recruited her as a masseuse for Jeffery Epstein. Throughout the book she seems to think she was 15 but towards the end she agrees that she was probably 16, either way moralistically what happened to her is wrong.
But from that first encounter she shows little or no resistance to what happened to her. She was paid and walked away, only to return the next day.
Yes she was influenced by a very manipulative couple, yes she was used for sex by both of them.
Later in the book she describes how she was asked to perform the same “services” for other men, all of them much older than her, many of them rich and influential.
She also describes the lavish life style that Epstein and Maxwell lived. The mansions, the private planes, the Caribbean Island.
But she also describes walking freely around these places and the cities the mansions stood in.
She states she always carried a disposable camera and documented her travels, some of the pictures used in the book are from these cameras, as is the infamous Prince Andrew image.
Some of pictures seem like family snapshots.
She describes how she went from being used for sexual services to recruiting new girls for Epstein pleasure. Stating that she knew these girls were either underage or barely of legal age for sex.
She states she knew the nightmare she was leading these girls into.
When she finally makes her escape, on a trip to Thailand where she was training to be a qualified masseuse paid for by Epstein, she met her husband, and this is where she starts to rebel and fight back against the couple who have had such a strong hold over her.
She talks of starting a family in Australia, during which time she becomes aware that Epstein is being investigated. It is then that she starts to look for her own justice.
This is where a brave young woman emerges. A woman with strength and tenacity which is so contrary to the late teenage, early twenties woman she describes earlier in the book.
She is a tower of strength that, although well recompensed financially, only seems to want to bring her abusers to justice and see them in prison where they cannot hurt any more young girls.
So why am I conflicted.
I am full of sympathy for Virgina the young girl who was raped by her father, a family friend, two young local boys and another man before she was sixteen.
I found myself doubting her innocence and naivety’s during her early time with Epstein and Maxwell.
I started to think of her as complicit when she started to recruit new girls to Epstein world, and take part in sexual activities with them.
In fact some of the people that have since been prosecuted, or investigated about crimes committed with, and alongside, Epstein and Maxwell, only did what Virginia did, before and after her arrival in Epstein’s orbit.
During this period I can’t say I felt empathy with her.
But when she starts her legal battles she is a tour de force. Brave does not begin to describe her. The intimidation she suffers would have had most people running for the hills but she stayed strong, and was determined to see justice.
So yes my feelings for her are conflicted. Is it a middle aged man’s point of view. My daughter has just started the book, I’m going to be interested in her thoughts.
The one big thing that I have taken way from this book is a thirst to find out more about Epstein and Maxwells empire. The influence that they had over high society, politicians, major business leaders, law makers and a Royal Family member across the world.
How did the college drop out Epstein fund his lavish life style with and estimated wealth of half a billion dollars, as reported in the book.
How did he end up having such an influence over such highly respected, and important people.
Was Maxwell an equal, or was she actually the driving force in the relationship.
This book is a tough read in places, and it has got material that could act as triggers to people who have suffered abuse, but it is a book that had me held tightly in its grip, leaving me with a lot more questions than I had before I started reading it.
Pages: 367. Publisher: Doubleday
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