Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s life was forever changed one summer day in 2000, when, at just 16 years old, she sat behind the front desk of the spa at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. She was reading a book about anatomy, quietly working her summer job, unaware that her world was about to be upended by the arrival of a woman she would later describe as an “apex predator.” That woman was Ghislaine Maxwell.
This pivotal encounter, recounted in devastating detail in Giuffre’s posthumously published memoir, Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice, marks the beginning of a harrowing journey. The memoir, which Giuffre completed in October 2024—just six months before her tragic death by suicide—is set to be released on October 21, 2025. According to Vanity Fair, Giuffre instructed her collaborator, Amy Wallace, to ensure the book would be published if anything happened to her.
Giuffre’s story, now emerging in the public eye through exclusive excerpts published by Vanity Fair and The Guardian, is a chilling account of how powerful individuals can exploit their positions, leaving lasting scars on the vulnerable. Her memoir details the day Maxwell entered her life, describing the British socialite as “mesmerizing” and even comparing her to Mary Poppins at first glance. But any sense of comfort quickly evaporated. “Maxwell got out and followed after me. I didn’t know it yet, but once again, a predator was closing in,” Giuffre wrote, recalling that first meeting.
Maxwell, who is now serving a two-decade sentence in a Texas prison for sex trafficking charges, was convicted for her role in recruiting and grooming young girls for the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell’s driver, Juan Patricio Alessi, testified at her 2021 trial that Maxwell first spotted Giuffre in the back of a car, an innocent teenager who had no inkling of the nightmare ahead.
That very night, Giuffre was manipulated into visiting Epstein’s mansion, located just a short drive from Mar-a-Lago, under the guise of giving him a massage—despite her protests that she was not trained. “He loves to help people,” Maxwell assured her, suggesting that Epstein could pay for her training to become a massage therapist. Giuffre’s father, unaware of the true nature of the visit, dropped her off at Epstein’s address, where Maxwell “seemed impatient for him to leave,” practically shooing him back into his truck, as the memoir recounts.
Inside Epstein’s home, Giuffre was struck by the décor: walls crowded with photos and paintings of nude women. She wondered if this was simply how the wealthy decorated, not wanting to reveal her discomfort. She was led upstairs to a bedroom, where she encountered Epstein for the first time. “A naked man lay face down on top of [the massage table], his head resting on his folded arms, but when he heard us enter, he lifted up slightly to look around at me,” Giuffre wrote. “I remember his bushy eyebrows and the deep lines in his face as he grinned a Cheshire-cat smile.”
After the encounter, Maxwell’s butler drove Giuffre home. She was in a “state,” and, desperate to avoid her parents’ questions, ran upstairs to shower. “For what seemed like an hour, I sat on the wet tile floor and let my tears mix with the hot water pounding my skin,” she wrote, a haunting image of a young woman’s anguish.
This was only the beginning. For more than two years, Giuffre would remain in the orbit of Epstein and Maxwell, forced to comply with their every demand. “There were no bars on the windows or locks on the doors,” she wrote. “But I was a prisoner trapped in an invisible cage.” The memoir, according to The Guardian, reveals how Giuffre was trafficked to a succession of wealthy and powerful men, exposing the dark underbelly of privilege and impunity.
Donald Trump, owner of Mar-a-Lago and a future president, appears briefly in Giuffre’s account. She describes being introduced to him by her father, who worked at the resort maintaining air-conditioning units and tennis courts. “Trump couldn’t have been friendlier, telling me it was fantastic that I was there,” Giuffre wrote. He asked if she liked children and if she babysat, eventually helping her secure babysitting work for wealthy clients at homes he lent to friends. Giuffre omitted some less-than-flattering details about her previous babysitting experience, eager for the opportunity. “Clearly I was right to leave that out, because soon I was making extra money a few nights a week, minding the children of the elite,” she recalled in the memoir excerpt published by Vanity Fair.
Trump has been dogged by the Epstein scandal for years. On the 2024 campaign trail, he pledged to release all files related to the case, but his administration later attempted to close the investigation. Trump has consistently denied any involvement in Epstein’s criminal activities, stating that he ended their friendship after Epstein “stole” young women working at his Mar-a-Lago spa, including Giuffre. He has also taken legal action against The Wall Street Journal and its owner Rupert Murdoch, over reports he sent a “bawdy” birthday card to Epstein—claims Trump has called false and defamatory.
While the world has watched the Epstein saga unfold, with Maxwell now behind bars and Epstein dead by suicide in 2019, Giuffre’s memoir offers a deeply personal, unvarnished look at the human cost of such crimes. Her words, now published posthumously, serve as both a testament to her resilience and a cautionary tale about the dangers lurking behind the doors of the powerful.
“I was groomed by Maxwell and Epstein to be complicit in my own devastation,” she wrote, laying bare the psychological manipulation that kept her ensnared. The memoir’s release comes amid renewed public outrage over the Epstein case and ongoing debates about accountability for those involved.
As the world prepares for the publication of Nobody’s Girl, Giuffre’s story stands as a reminder of the importance of listening to survivors and demanding justice—even when the accused occupy the highest echelons of society. Her legacy, preserved in her own words, is one of courage, pain, and an unyielding quest for truth.
If you or someone you know needs mental health assistance, help is available. In the U.S., call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org for confidential, 24/7 support. In the UK, the Samaritans can be reached at 116 123 or via email at [email protected]. For other countries, visit www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.