Belle de Jour unmasked

[Steven_Draker]

One of the best kept literary secrets of the decade was revealed last night when a 34-year-old research scientist, Dr Brooke Magnanti, announced she was the writer better known as call girl Belle de Jour.

 

The author behind the blog turned bestselling series of books detailing her secret life as a prostitute decided to come out to one of her fiercest critics, the Sunday Times columnist India Knight, after claiming anonymity had become "no fun". "I couldn't even go to my own book launch party," she said.

 

It does appear, however, that Magnanti's hand was forced after a former boyfriend appeared set to reveal her secret: Knight's interview with her today refers to "an ex-boyfriend with a big mouth lurking in the background".

 

Until last week, even her agent was unaware of her name. But now Magnanti, a respected specialist in developmental neurotoxicology and cancer epidemiology in a hospital research group in Bristol, has spoken of the time six years ago she worked as a £300-an-hour prostitute working through a London escort agency.

 

Magnanti turned to the agency in the final stages of her PhD thesis when she ran out of money. She was already an experienced science blogger and began writing about her experiences in a web diary later adapted into books and a television drama starring Billie Piper.

 

Magnanti says she has no regrets about the 14 months she spent as a prostitute. "I've felt worse about my writing than I ever have about sex for money," she said.

 

A month ago she revealed her secret to her colleagues at the Bristol Initiative for Research of Child Health, who were "amazingly kind and supportive". She was preparing to tell her parents this weekend.

 

Unlike some bloggers who achieve notoriety, Magnanti managed to protect her identity so completely that a series of professional writers were linked with the character, among them Rowan Pelling, former editor of the Erotic Review and – perhaps less plausibly – the journalist Toby Young.

 

Magnanti today defended herself against the notion that she risked glamorising prostitution, a charge levelled by John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, last month.

 

Magnanti told Knight she was "entitled to speak about it, or write about it, as I lived it". She continued: "Some sex workers have terrible experiences. I didn't. I was unbelievably fortunate in every respect. The people at the agency looked after us appropriately and instructed us appropriately and weren't going to put us in harm's way if they could possibly avoid it."

 

Magnanti said she was working on a doctoral study for the department of forensic pathology of Sheffield University in 2003 when she began her secret life. "I was getting ready to submit my thesis. I saved up a bit of money. I thought, I'll just move to London, because that's where the jobs are, and I'll see what happens.

 

"I couldn't find a professional job in my chosen field because I didn't have my PhD yet. I didn't have a lot of spare time on my hands because I was still making corrections and preparing for the viva and I got through my savings a lot faster than I thought I would."

 

Unable to pay her rent, Magnanti's mind turned to other things. She told the Sunday Times she wanted to start doing something straight away, "that doesn't require a great deal of training or investment to get started, that's cash in hand and that leaves me spare time to do my work in". Her solution was prostitution.

 

"I did have another job at one point, as a computer programmer, but I kept up with my other work because it was so much more enjoyable."

 

The Belle de Jour blog remains current, despite Magnanti's long absence from prostitution. In a post dated today, she wrote that "a perfect storm of feelings and circumstances" had drawn her out of anonymity, adding: "And do you know what? It feels so much better on this side. Not to have to tell lies, hide things from the people I care about. To be able to defend what my experience of sex work is like to all the sceptics and doubters."

 

While the revelation was unexpected, at least one Sunday Times reader claimed, in a comment on the newspaper's website, that it made perfect sense: "Given the state of funding in biomedical research, the low pay and poor career prospects in the UK and Europe, it's hardly surprising and she's probably not the only one."

 

http://belledejour-uk.blogspot.com/

[GoodFella69]

Thanks for sharing this news, Steven.

 

Aren't most escorts respected research specialists in developmental neurotoxicology and epidemiology?

 

Seriously, I've met many wonderful working boys who (similar to Brooke Magnanti) are intelligent, well-educated, ambitious and goal-oriented. Good for them!

[operalover21]

It must be a well-kept secret as I have never even heard this story before! "Literary secret?" I'm not so sure "literary" is the right word here.