Research scientist Dr Brooke Magnanti has revealed herself as Belle de Jour, one of the great literary mysteries of recent English literature.

Dr Magnanti is a respected specialist in developmental neurotoxicology and cancer epidemiology in a hospital research group in Bristol.

In 2003, running out of money, Magnanti was working on her doctoral thesis at Sheffield University, when she took up prostitution. She found an escort agency, became a profesional escort and began writing.

The rest is history: blog, book, TV show, movie?

Last week Magnati contacted the London Times’ sternest critics of Belle de Jour, India Knight, saying that she was prepared to reveal her identity. Given the devoted journalistic trail of the London Times in trying to identify the author, they clearly deserved the story. Here’s a partial list of speculation and opinion from the London Times about the life and identity of Belle de Jour. Anne

London Times Writers Gone Wrong:

Named: the Belle de Jour of the net. (2005) London Times writers Gareth Walsh and Nicholas Hellen track the wrong women.

Focus: Who is ‘Belle de Jour’, the high-class hooker whose web diary is set to be a literary sensation. (2004) Richard Woods and Nicholas Hellen discuss the salacious interest in Belle de Jour.

Internet ‘call-girl’ unmasked (2004) Collaborating with an American literary slueth, the London Times erroneously names Sarah Champion as Belle de Jour.

Autobiography: Belle de Jour India Knight reviews for the London Times