The Lasting Harm: Witnessing the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell

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'Lucia Osborne-Crowley is a lighthouse of a writer: steadfast, illuminating and patiently cutting through darkness and horror to lead us to safety.' -Benjamin Law



'Lucia Osborne-Crowley is a writer of depth, determination and uncommon insight.' - Julia Baird


'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 20 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 only four 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.


Centring the stories of four women and their testimonies, and supplemented by extra material to which Osborne-Crowley has exclusive access, 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.

Reviews

'I followed Lucia's immaculate reporting throughout the Maxwell trial and now she has put the case into its human context. Powerful, vivid and affecting, it's a thoughtful, responsible, compassionate account of the consequences of crime.' David Nicholls, author of One Day.


'Lucia Osborne-Crowley is a lighthouse of a writer: steadfast, illuminating and patiently cutting through darkness and horror to lead us to safety.'
Benjamin Law


'Lucia Osborne-Crowley is a writer of depth, determination and uncommon insight.' Julia Baird


'Lucia's work is urgent, necessary and courageous. Her personal bravery in examining her own past brings a depth of insight to her present writing that I both appreciate and admire.'
Elizabeth Day, author of How To Fail


'Lucia Osborne-Crowley is beyond brilliant: the definitive voice on the Epstein horror, her courage, clarity and commitment to detail shining through.' Owen Jones


'Lucia Osborne-Crowley is a marvel: a tenacious and empathetic chronicler of the world who provides a voice for those who have been silenced and pulls from the shadows those who have too long lain hidden there. I am so grateful for her work.' Rebecca Watson, author of Little Scratch


'Lucia Osborne-Crowley's vital work is driven by instincts that we need more than ever but that are in desperately short supply: integrity, a desire to bear witness, a dedication to the stories, experiences and truths of those who so often go unheard and unheeded.' Kieran Goddard, author of I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning


'Lucia Osborne-Crowley writes from a unique position with a combination of legal expertise and lived experience of her subject. This makes her a compassionate authority. A true rarity and unparalleled leader in her field, Osborne-Crowley is helping the world to understand the legacy of the trauma that comes with abuse of power.' Vicky Spratt, author of Tenants


'We don't need another book about rich men and what, or who, they buy with their money. The book we need is this one - centring the stories of vulnerable teenage girls from families with no money, their need for something better, and how they were used up and thrown away by those rich men' Jolyon Maugham, Director of the Good Law Project and author of Bringing Down Goliath

Author Bio

Lucia Osborne-Crowley is an Australian trained lawyer, legal reporter, journalist, essayist, and the author of two books, I Choose Elena (2020) and My Body Keeps Your Secrets (2021), winner of a Somerset Maugham Award. Her news reporting has appeared in ABC News, Guardian, Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal, GQ Australia, Saturday Paper and Women's Agenda. Her long-form writing has appeared in The Lifted Brow and Meanjin.

Lucia's forensic but accessible reporting of the Maxwell trial was described as some of the best and most trauma-informed coverage of the case, and it saw her social media following grow by over 35,000 followers. She has appeared as an expert journalist on the Maxwell and Prince Andrew cases on several news channels.


She is currently working for Law360 as a court reporter from London.