Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice

Jeffrey Epstein is a key figure in Giuffre’s memoir. An American financier with significant influence in the banking world, Epstein is now most famous as a child sex offender. Though he was convicted for only one incident (molesting a girl in Palm Beach), he is widely believed to have been at the center of a network trafficking underage girls to rich and powerful clients around the world. Epstein was indicted and imprisoned for sex trafficking in July of 2019, but died, allegedly by suicide, just a month later. He was therefore never tried for the majority of his alleged crimes, but his co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted for her role in helping him procure girls. 

Indeed, when Giuffre first learned of Epstein, it was through Maxwell, who described him as “a wealthy man—a longtime Mar-a-Lago member […] —who is looking for a massage therapist to travel with him” (68). She also informed Giuffre that Epstein was “a genius with a knack for making money” and connections to a slew of rich and influential people (68). The episode illustrates Giuffre’s portrayal of Epstein and Maxwell as predators, preying on Giuffre’s naivete and her hopes that Epstein might facilitate her dream of working a professional masseuse job. Though she soon discovered Epstein’s true nature during her “job interview,” Giuffre felt incapable of freeing herself from him because of the previous sexual abuse she’d experienced and her lack of prospects and connections. This, too, contributes to the characterization of Epstein as a calculating predator, as it suggests that he targeted vulnerable girls. 

Nobody’s Girl thus contributes to a growing body of testimony regarding Epstein’s alleged crimes. According to Giuffre, Epstein would enslave and traffic her for nearly three years, and she describes many of the heinous things that Epstein required of her personally while also detailing the way he treated his other victims. Her meticulous account of Epstein’s behaviors, including the threats he made against her family, frames him as both villainous and brazen, secure in the knowledge of his own power. At the same time, Giuffre acknowledges that she felt conflicted while under Epstein’s sway. He “strung [her] along with the promise that he would introduce [her] to real massage therapists, who he’d pay to let [her] apprentice alongside them as they worked on his body” (105). He also treated her with a twisted paternal air. “I needed him not to be a selfish, cruel pedophile,” Giuffre admits while reflecting on her complex regard for her abuser, “So I told myself he wasn’t one” (101). This need was particularly acute given Giuffre’s background: She wanted to believe that he truly cared about her, because she had never been shown true parental protection or love. Though she retrospectively recognizes that she developed an attachment to her abuser to survive, her nuanced portrayal of Epstein speaks to the insidious nature of abuse. In this, it serves Giuffre’s broader fight for justice, which continued even after Epstein’s death.

Ghislaine Maxwell is another key figure in Giuffre’s memoir, as she was one of Giuffre’s sexual abusers and Epstein’s co-conspirators. Maxwell is widely known because of the allegations brought against her in US federal court, which resulted in her 2021 conviction as a sex offender. Maxwell was ultimately sentenced to 65 years in prison for facilitating Epstein’s abuse, drafting new girls on his behalf, and trafficking them to their slew of rich and powerful friends.

Prior to her arrest and conviction, Maxwell was a prominent British socialite. Although Giuffre did not know who Maxwell was when she first met her at Mar-a-Lago, this aspect of her persona was key to her hold over Giuffre. “I wish I could say that I sensed that something evil was tracking me,” Giuffre says of the day Maxwell pulled up alongside her at Mar-a-Lago, “but as I headed into the building, I had no inkling of the danger I was in” (62). Instead, when 16-year-old Giuffre met Maxwell, she “appeared to be beautiful, poised, and self-assured on the outside” (63)—all of the things Giuffre someday hoped to be. 

However, Giuffre soon learned Maxwell’s true nature. Throughout the memoir, she asserts that Maxwell used her gender to exploit young women and girls, lulling them into a false sense of security. For example, Giuffre was unsure of how to respond to Epstein’s inappropriate behavior during the “interview” but rationalized it because Maxwell was present: “Besides, while the man on the table was nude, it’s not like I was alone with him. The fact that a woman was with me made me breathe easier” (70). Giuffre thus suggests that Maxwell’s presence during and involvement in much of Epstein’s sexual abuse also served as a form of emotional manipulation. 

Nevertheless, Giuffre went on to play a major role in Maxwell’s arrest and indictment. Maxwell’s fate—as well as the knowledge that she helped secure it—afforded Giuffre some peace of mind after years of fighting for justice.

Robbie was Giuffre’s husband. The two met when Giuffre was attending the International Training Massage School (ITM) in Thailand, where they were introduced by Robbie’s friend Mat. According to the memoir, Robbie fell in love with Giuffre at first sight but feigned disinterest in her. His tactic worked, and Giuffre pursued Robbie. Within a week, the two had fallen in love, gotten engaged, and married at a Thai temple. Together, they had three children, Alex, Tyler, and Ellie.

Giuffre frames Robbie as influential in her ongoing efforts to confront and heal from her trauma. Unlike any other man Giuffre had known, Robbie cared deeply for Giuffre as a person. He was devoted to her and made her feel safe and seen. Giuffre admits that some people “marvel at how quickly [they] moved” in their relationship but asserts that they “shared a belief that [they] had been destined to meet and be together” (160). After their wedding and honeymoon, they relocated to Australia, where they moved in with Robbie’s parents—both of whom would also contribute to Giuffre’s healing.

The memoir’s portrayal of Robbie is at odds with details that emerged in the weeks surrounding Giuffre’s death. Though Giuffre remained married to Robbie until her death in 2025, they were estranged due to Giuffre’s allegations of domestic violence and an ongoing custody battle. The Collaborator’s Note touches on this subject, framing it as further evidence of the difficulty many survivors of abuse face in finding healthy relationships.