This review is going to take a look into My Friend Anna by Rachel DeLoache Williams. I selected this book for my library’s leisure reading collection and decided to pick it up to take a break from fiction real quick knowing that many of my ARCs are fiction.
Rachel was living in New York City and was working as a photo editor for Vanity Fair when Anna Delvey aka Anna Delvey Sorokin appeared in her life. Rachel was out with friends and met the socialite, who took a liking to her. Once that happened Rachel and Anna were practically inseperable.
Anna would invite Rachel to fancy meals, share her personal trainer, use infrared saunas, and more. The whole time, she led Rachel to believe she was a German heiress living off a hefty allowance, until her trust money came through. That’s when she went all in, inviting Rachel, her personal trainer, and a videographer on a vacation to Morocco. One small problem, she didn’t have the money to cover the trip.
Anna left all the planning until the last second, believing it would all happen. But then she got Rachel to book the flights. And then in Morocco, her credit card wouldn’t work, so Rachel put her card down thinking she would either be reimbursed by Anna, or Anna would get it figured out before they left, and she wouldn’t be charged at all. But boy was she wrong. She ended up paying more than $62,000 for the trip.
Once home, Rachel continually tried to get Anna to reimburse her to no avail. So she decided to look deeper into Anna’s background. That’s when the puzzle started to come together. Rachel testified about all of this in court and opened up about all of the problems she has had since falling for this scam.
This book was eye opening to how easy it is to fall for something one might hope is true. At the same time, while reading I continually had feelings of did you really not pick up any red flags before this trip? Maybe I am just more skeptical about things that appear to be too good to be true.
I think those that like reading celebrity memoirs would enjoy this book. It would also serve as a good–don’t fall for this yourself warning read. My Friend Anna was released on July 23, 2019. Go pick up a copy so you don’t fall into a similar trap!
Happy reading 🙂
Confessions of a Bibliophile 