Knopf has agreed to make changes to the forthcoming memoir by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, the Jeffrey Epstein accuser who died by suicide in April, the Associated Press reports.
In August, the press announced that it would publish Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice in the fall. In the memoir, written in collaboration with Amy Wallace, Giuffre tells the story of being trafficked by Epstein and his friend Ghislaine Maxwell, both of whom were convicted of sex trafficking. Epstein died in 2019; his death was ruled a suicide.
Shortly after Knopf’s announcement, four of Giuffre’s family members objected to the memoir, saying that it portrayed her husband, Robert Giuffre, in a positive light, despite her claims that he physically abused her. They said that she downplayed his alleged abuse because she was afraid for the safety of her and her children and wanted to change the book before she took her own life earlier this year.
“As a family, we want the sensitive contents of that book, which is in her words, to fly,” her brother Danny Wilson said. “We’re not trying to curb-stomp this book. I want to make sure that we do her a little bit of justice.”
Jordan Pavlin, the publisher and editor-in-chief of Knopf, told the AP, “We worked with Virginia’s brothers and their wives to contextualize the narrative Virginia’s memoir presents, and we appreciate their support of this publication. We all believe that Virginia’s voice must be heard, and that her courage in telling her story has the power to offer strength and hope to victims of sexual abuse. Nobody’s Girl is a testament to Virginia’s dignity and fortitude in the face of Jeffrey Epstein’s and Ghislaine Maxwell’s monstrous cruelty. Its impact will be profound.”
Nobody’s Girl is scheduled for publication on October 21.
EDITOR’S NOTE: In the U.S., the national suicide and crisis lifeline is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
