“SHE’S GONE — BUT HER WORDS ARE STILL COMING FOR THEM.” The lights went out years ago. But Virginia Giuffre’s truth refused to die with her. Her memoir — written in fire, grief, and courage — names…

Amy Wallace:

Well, I think there should be a trove of information. We also know from Virginia’s account that there were video cameras in that Manhattan townhouse in all of the private spaces, I believe even in the bathrooms. So those videotapes would theoretically not just let you know the horrors that went on in the house, but they might even identify some of the men.

He was surprised when he was picked up at Teterboro Airport and arrested him. They were also battering in the door and going into that Manhattan townhouse. So that gives me hope that there were things that were confiscated from that house.

Amna Nawaz:

In terms of what’s known and unknown, she details what’s probably one of her most brutal assaults ever, and she says that it happened at the hands of a powerful prime minister. She says that she was choked and that she was beaten, bloodied, and it was a real turning point for her as well.

He’s not named in the book. I wonder why not and if there’s any potential accountability there.

Amy Wallace:

It really, really mattered to hold these people accountable. And so she came forward to the authorities, and they know those names. And…

Amna Nawaz:

The authorities have the name of this prime minister?

Amy Wallace:

I believe so.

So, then the question is, if you’re going to rename and rename and rename, you open yourself up to a bunch of dangers. One, you lose your privacy, obviously. That’s a given. She’s already done that. But this is a family that had death — she had death threats against her. She had her house broken into. So there’s a safety issue.

And with this particular gentleman, she was afraid he would kill her.

Amna Nawaz:

She told you that?

Amy Wallace:

Absolutely.

Amna Nawaz:

It is brutal to read these accounts in such detail and with such candor.

And she writes at one point straight to the reader: “I know this is a lot to take in, the violence, the neglect, the bad decisions, the self-harm. Imagine if a trauma reel like this played in your head all the time, as it does mine, and not just on the pages of a book you can put down if you need to just for a moment to steady your nerves. But, please, please,” she writes, “don’t stop reading.”

Why was that important to include?

Amy Wallace:

She doesn’t just break the fourth wall and say, come with me, keep going, now back to the traumas. She takes you into a moment in her present.

And I think the moment in the book at that point is, she’s in the car, she’s playing all her music. She’s American, but her kids are Australian. They grew up in Australia. So she’s playing all her music, which was a huge coping mechanism for her. And they’re teenagers and they’re like, ah mom, your music is awful. Turn it off.

And we capture that scene. It gives you a little bit of hope, but also just a break before you go back into reading.

Amna Nawaz:

Amy, she was only 41 when she took her own life just earlier this year. What was going on in her marriage and in her world around that time? What can you tell us that she told you?

Amy Wallace:

Well, she died in April, and a lot had happened in that time.

Her marriage had broken down. They were estranged from each other. There had been allegations back and forth, and her husband had won a restraining order against her, keeping her from seeing or communicating with her kids, which was very, very difficult for her.

Amna Nawaz:

She’s not here today to talk about her own story. I know you’re sitting here in her stead. What do you think she would make of this day, when her entire story, all of these details, is out in the rest of the world? What would she want to say?

Amy Wallace:

We say in the preface that she wrote me an e-mail, me and another person on our team, and said: “In the case of my passing, I want this book published, not just for me but for the other victims.”

We need to speak up, not just victims but women and men who are concerned about what’s going on in our culture. The fetishization of young girls is alive and well. But, yes, she should be sitting here, not me. I’m her facilitator. I’m her collaborator. I was there to help her tell her story.

And this is her book, her story. And I’m heartbroken that she’s not here to enjoy, if that’s the right word, the moment of having people really know all the things that happened.

Amna Nawaz:

Amy Wallace, thank you so much for being here.

The book, again, is “Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice.” The author is the late Virginia Roberts Giuffre.

Thank you.

A new book tells the story of Virginia Roberts Giuffre, one of many victims of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Giuffre died by suicide earlier this year. Her posthumous memoir explores her resilience while also revealing new details about the abuse she suffered at the hands of powerful figures. Amna Nawaz has that story. And a warning, this report includes accounts of sexual abuse and suicide.

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