英国女科学家自曝应召女身份

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."

英国女科学家布鲁克•玛格南提日前自曝，她就是那个曾撰写回忆录并被改拍成电视剧《一个应召女郎的秘密日记》的应召女！

玛格南提在接受英国报纸《星期日泰晤士报》的采访时说，她一直以笔名“白天美人”记录自己的应召生活，在其中，她讲述了她在写博士论文时为赚钱而沦为高级应召女郎的经历。

她从2003年开始写博客讲述自己的私密应召生活，她的博客文章被多次集成书出版，其中包括2005年的畅销书《一名伦敦应召女郎的私密经历》，以及其它两本书。此外，她的博客还被改编成了一部电视剧，该剧由比莉•派佩主演，在约25个国家播放。

尽管很多人试图揭开这位女主人公的真实身份，并也有一些人质疑她所写回忆录的真实性，“白天美人”依然是个谜，直到最近34岁的玛格南提自曝身份。她觉得现在是时候公开自己的身份了，并称用笔名写作已经“毫无乐趣”。

上周日，她在自己的博客中写道：“说出来的感觉真好。不需要再说谎，不需要再向我在乎的人们隐瞒事实。现在可以向所有的怀疑和质疑者们为我从事性工作的经历进行辩护了。”

“那时候隐姓埋名是有目的的。人们选择隐姓埋名总有一定的原因，对于作品伤害性或争议太大的作家们来说，他们不能用真实姓名……然而对于我来说，向全世界承认我生活中的另一面和我的个性变得很重要。”

玛格南提是一名研发科学家，住在英格兰西南部的布里斯托尔。她受雇于布里斯托尔大学，是布里斯托尔的圣迈克尔医院发展性神经毒理学和癌症流行病学方面的专家。

她说，她于2003年在一家陪游机构做了14个月的应召女，每小时收费300英镑（500美元），不过她对这段经历并不感到后悔。她说，“相比于做应召女，我觉得自己的写作生涯”更糟。

出版“白天美人”小说的英国猎户星出版社在其网站上发表声明称：“白天美人能够主动站出来公开她的真实身份，这是一个很有勇气的决定，我们支持她这么做。”

该出版社称：“我们自2005年以来就在出版她的书，我们期待这样的合作能够继续。”他说，白天美人不会再接受任何采访。

她的“东家”布里斯托尔大学的一名发言人告诉《星期日泰晤士报》称：“她过去的那一面和她现在在大学里的角色没有任何关系。”

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 陪游机构