My Friend Anna - by Rachel Deloache Williams (Paperback)

About the Book

"From a photo editor at Vanity Fair comes the true account of her friendship with "Anna Delvey"--a woman posing as a German heiress who conned her out of $62,000--and her quest to obtain justice"--

Book Synopsis

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
ONE OF TIME'S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR

Sex and the City meets Bad Blood and Catch Me if You Can in this riveting true crime memoir that tells the astonishing firsthand story of Anna Delvey--the fake heiress who conned New York's elite--and the friend she betrayed.

When Rachel DeLoache Williams meets Anna Delvey, Anna claims to be a wealthy German heiress with boundless ambition and an extravagant lifestyle. She treats generously, covering lavish dinners, luxury hotels, high-end workouts, and nights out across Manhattan. Drawn into Anna's orbit, Rachel is flattered by the friendship and dazzled by the access it provides.

The illusion shatters during a dream trip to Marrakech, when Anna's credit cards suddenly stop working. Anna insists the problem is temporary and persuades Rachel to front the costs--first flights, then meals and shopping, and ultimately a private villa costing thousands per night. By the time they return to New York, Rachel has been charged more than $62,000, and Anna's promises of repayment quickly unravel.

As Rachel pieces together the truth, she discovers Anna has left a trail of unpaid bills and deception throughout the city. Determined to reclaim her life and dignity, Rachel goes to the authorities and finds herself at the center of the investigation that brings down one of the most infamous con artists of the decade.

Fast-paced, immersive, and deeply personal, this memoir offers an insider's account of fraud, privilege, and the seductive power of ambition--told by the woman who lived it.

Review Quotes

"My Friend Anna is sensational."
- Bustle

"Unbelievable, unforgettable, and unputdownable: that's My Friend Anna."
- Book Riot

"My Friend Anna is the dishy story you've been craving ever since Anna Delvey first made headlines...a harrowing account of what it's like to be conned."
- Refinery29

"If you gobbled up every last detail of the Anna Sorokin 'Fake Socialite' trial this spring (and really, who didn't?), your addictive summer beach read has arrived."
-New York Post

"...a behind-the-scenes look at the [Anna Delvey] scam and how she got away with it...until she didn't. This one's nonfiction but feels too wild to be true."
-The Skimm

"It started out as an article in Vanity Fair and ended up a national obsession. Read for an inside look at NYC's elite - and a lesson in how people aren't always what they seem."
-The Skimm

"Beach reads should be light, fun, and serve a lot dish. That's why number one on my summer reading list is My Friend Anna: The True Story of a Fake Heiress by Rachel DeLoache Williams."
- Town & Country

"...the Sorokin scam [has] everything: glamour, greed, lust for power, great clothes (or at least expensive ones), rich people being ripped off, cameos by fellow millennial con artists like 'Pharma Bro' and the Fyre Festival organizers, and lots of satisfying clichés about the rotten core of the Big Apple."
- The New York Times

"...the gritty, glittery story of the woman who defined the Summer of Scam."
- Bustle

"...a thrilling tell-all that I have no doubt will be one of the most talked-about releases this summer!"
- Audible.com

"My Friend Anna is a powerful account of Anna Delvey's life and crimes, but also a searching portrait of confidence artists and hustlers at large, and the kinds of communities that seem especially vulnerable to them."
- CrimeReads.com

"William's book is a detailed retelling of her experience, building far beyond the initial account she published in Vanity Fair in April 2018."
-Insider

"I'm embarrassed to say how much I enjoyed it."
-Entertainment Weekly

About the Author

Rachel DeLoache Williams was born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee, and is a graduate of Kenyon College. In 2010, she moved to New York City and landed her dream job in the photo department of Vanity Fair, where she helped produce photo shoots, including those for the annual Hollywood and New Establishment issues, and worked with the magazine's leading photographers and iconic subjects. My Friend Anna is her first book. Williams is featured as a character in Shonda Rhimes's Netflix series about Anna Delvey, Inventing Anna.