Brooke Magnanti, merit scholar, forensic scientist, author, columnist and former London high-class call girl was born on May 5th, 1975 in West Florida.

(1) You may know Brooke by her pen name Belle de Jour which protected her identity for several years before being discovered by a sleuthing journalist in 2009. Belle de Jour translated means ‘day-time beauty’. Her pen name was derived from the novel Belle de Jour by Joseph Kessel.

(2)Brooke wrote (under the pseudonym) Belle de Jour the anonymous blog the Secret Diary of a London Call Girl while completing her doctoral studies. From 2003 – 2004, to supplement her income, Brooke worked as a highly paid London call girl and documented her trials and tribulations in the now famous blog diary. In 2007, her book ‘The Secret Diary of a London Call Girl’ and her blogs were adapted into a television series starring the famous English actress Billie Piper.

(3)In 2005, she went on to write the Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl and in 2006, the Further Adventures of a London Call Girl. All three books including her breakout novel based on her blog were UK Top Ten bestsellers.

(4)After experiencing a brief but frightening brush with homelessness after large medical bills pushed her to the brink, Magnanti turned to sex work as a means to pay the rent and keep her dreams of being a scientist alive.

(5) While desperately applying for jobs, Magnanti turned to sex work – earning an estimated £100,000 between 2003 and 2004. She added: “I only worked [as a call girl] as little as I had to because at the time I was looking for a job in science.”

(6)Magnanti has become an advocate for sex worker rights and has pushed for the decriminalisation of the industry. She has also penned two books on the subject – “Sex, Lies and Statistics – The Truth About Sex Work” and “The Sex Myth – Why Everything We’re Told is Wrong.”

(7) Brooke lives in Lochaber in the Scottish Highlands and is married to Nick, a firefighter. She continues to write and be a presence in the public forum with her strong views on all things sex particularly sex work.(8)

(1),(4), (7)Dr Brooke Magnanti, https://www.brookemagnanti.com (accessed 10 November 2018) (2), (3)Wikipedia contributors, “Brooke Magnanti,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brooke_Magnanti&oldid=862660366(accessed November 10, 2018). (5), (6), (8), Blott, Unity, “‘I was desperately afraid’: Brooke Magnanti reveals how being homeless prompted her career as call girl Belle de Jour”, Daily Mail Australia, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4765036/Brooke-Magnanti-reveals-used-sleep-rough.html (accessed November 10 2018)