英國女科學家自曝應召女身份
A former prostitute whose memoirs were turned into the TV series "Secret Diary of a Call Girl" has revealed her true identity -- Brooke Magnanti, a British research scientist.
Magnanti told British newspaper The Sunday Times that she wrote under the pen name Belle de Jour to describe the encounters she had as a high-class call girl while she was earning money as she wrote her PhD.
She detailed her secret life in a blog from 2003 which then led to a best-selling book, "The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl" in 2005, and sparked two more books, as well as a TV series starring Billie Piper that is shown in about 25 countries.
Despite many attempts to discover her true identity and questions over whether her memoirs were genuine, Belle de Jour remained anonymous, until Magnanti, 34, finally decided it was time to unmask herself saying anonymity had become "no fun."
"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 skeptics and doubters," she wrote on her blog on Sunday.
"Anonymity had a purpose then - it will always have a reason to exist, for writers whose work is too damaging or too controversial to put their names on ... but for me it became important to acknowledge that aspect of my life and my personality to the world at large."
Magnanti, who lives in Bristol in southwest England, is a research scientist who works as a specialist in developmental neurotoxicology and cancer epidemiology at St Michael's Hospital in Bristol, employed by the University of Bristol.
She said she worked as a 300 pounds ($500) an hour prostitute for 14 months for an escort agency in 2003 but had no regrets about that time. She said she felt worse "about my writing than I ever have about sex for money."
A statement on the website of Britain's Orion Books, which published Belle de Jour's novels, said: "It's a courageous decision for Belle de Jour to come forward with her true identity and we support her decision to do so."
"We have published her since 2005 and we are looking forward to continuing that relationship," said the publisher, adding that Belle would not be giving any further interviews.
A spokesman for her employer, the University of Bristol, told the Sunday Times: "This aspect of her past bears no relevance to her current role at the university."
英國女科學家布魯克•瑪格南提日前自曝，她就是那個曾撰寫回憶錄並被改拍成電視劇《一個應召女郎的祕密日記》的應召女！
瑪格南提在接受英國報紙《星期日泰晤士報》的採訪時說，她一直以筆名“白天美人”記錄自己的應召生活，在其中，她講述了她在寫博士論文時爲賺錢而淪爲高級應召女郎的經歷。
她從2003年開始寫博客講述自己的私密應召生活，她的博客文章被多次集成書出版，其中包括2005年的暢銷書《一名倫敦應召女郎的私密經歷》，以及其它兩本書。此外，她的博客還被改編成了一部電視劇，該劇由比莉•派佩主演，在約25個國家播放。
儘管很多人試圖揭開這位女主人公的真實身份，並也有一些人質疑她所寫回憶錄的真實性，“白天美人”依然是個謎，直到最近34歲的瑪格南提自曝身份。她覺得現在是時候公開自己的身份了，並稱用筆名寫作已經“毫無樂趣”。
上週日，她在自己的博客中寫道：“說出來的感覺真好。不需要再說謊，不需要再向我在乎的人們隱瞞事實。現在可以向所有的懷疑和質疑者們爲我從事性工作的經歷進行辯護了。”
“那時候隱姓埋名是有目的的。人們選擇隱姓埋名總有一定的原因，對於作品傷害性或爭議太大的作家們來說，他們不能用真實姓名……然而對於我來說，向全世界承認我生活中的另一面和我的個性變得很重要。”
瑪格南提是一名研發科學家，住在英格蘭西南部的布裏斯托爾。她受僱於布裏斯托爾大學，是布裏斯托爾的聖邁克爾醫院發展性神經毒理學和癌症流行病學方面的專家。
她說，她於2003年在一家陪遊機構做了14個月的應召女，每小時收費300英鎊（500美元），不過她對這段經歷並不感到後悔。她說，“相比於做應召女，我覺得自己的寫作生涯”更糟。
出版“白天美人”小說的英國獵戶星出版社在其網站上發表聲明稱：“白天美人能夠主動站出來公開她的真實身份，這是一個很有勇氣的決定，我們支持她這麼做。”
該出版社稱：“我們自2005年以來就在出版她的書，我們期待這樣的合作能夠繼續。”他說，白天美人不會再接受任何採訪。
她的“東家”布裏斯托爾大學的一名發言人告訴《星期日泰晤士報》稱：“她過去的那一面和她現在在大學裏的角色沒有任何關係。”
Vocabulary:
escort agency: companies that operate a booking and dispatch service that temporarily provides customers with a companion at the customer's house or hotel room 陪遊機構
