The Lasting Harm: Witnessing the Trial of Ghislaine Maxwell
LONGLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZE
‘Powerful, vivid and affecting’ DAVID NICHOLLS
‘Urgent, necessary and courageous’ ELIZABETH DAY
‘Brilliantly unsettling’ GUARDIAN
‘Will make you think about trauma in a new light’ EVENING STANDARD
‘I understand – and sympathise with – the feeling you might have that you already know the Jeffrey Epstein story. But I am not here to tell you a story about Jeffrey Epstein, or even Ghislaine Maxwell. I am here to tell you the stories of ten women, many of whom have never spoken at length before, about the real impact of sexual trauma on their lives’
In November 2021, Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted of five counts of sex-trafficking of minors, and now faces twenty years in prison for the role she played in Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of four girls. The trial was meticulously covered by journalist and legal reporter Lucia Osborne-Crowley, one of the only reporters allowed into the courtroom every day.
The Lasting Harm is her account of that trial, a gripping true crime drama and a blistering critique of a criminal justice system ill-equipped to deliver justice for abuse survivors, no matter the outcome.
Giving voice to four women and their testimonies, and supplemented by exclusive interviews, The Lasting Harm brings this incendiary trial to life, questions our age-old appetite for crime and punishment and offers a new blueprint for meaningful reparative justice.
'Powerful, vivid and affecting. A thoughtful, responsible, compassionate account of the consequences of crime' David Nicholls, author of One Day -
'Urgent, necessary and courageous' Elizabeth Day, author of How To Fail -
'Brilliantly unsettling. Excels in its empathy, insight and ability to gently expose the reader to themselves' Guardian -
'A blazing book that puts the criminal justice system under the microscope' Independent -
'The definitive voice on the Epstein horror' Owen Jones -
'Painful and candid' Observer -
'This book will make you think about trauma in a new light' Evening Standard -
”'Osborne-Crowley writes from the unique position of legal expertise and lived experience. This makes her a compassionate authority. She is helping the world to understand the legacy of the trauma” - Vicky Spratt, author of Tenants
‘A tenacious and empathetic chronicler of the world who provides a voice for those who have been silenced' Rebecca Watson, author of Little Scratch -
'We don't need another book about rich men. The book we need is this one: centering the stories of vulnerable teenage girls and how they were used up and thrown away by those rich men' Jolyon Maugham, Director of the Good Law Project -
'Osborne-Crowley’s vital work is driven by integrity, a desire to bear witness, a dedication to the experiences and truths of those who so often go unheard and unheeded' Kieran Goddard, author of I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning -
'Osborne-Crowley has a deep commitment to telling survivor stories. She is a courageous silence-breaker: she broke the silence by sharing her own story and now devotes her skills to help others tell theirs. We need more journalists like her' Jennifer Robinson, award-winning barrister -