Book Review: "My Friend Anna" by Rachel DeLoache Williams
Today, on She’s Full of Lit, we’re doing something a little different — both Elizabeth and Shannon will be reviewing this one. We both read it over the weekend, and we both wanted to be the one to write the review, so compromise!
“My Friend Anna” by Rachel DeLoache Williams
Synopsis: Vanity Fair photo editor Rachel DeLoache Williams’s new friend Anna Delvey, a self-proclaimed German heiress, was worldly and ambitious. She was also generous—picking up the tab for lavish dinners at Le Coucou, infrared sauna sessions at HigherDOSE, drinks at the 11 Howard Library bar, and regular workout sessions with a celebrity personal trainer.
When Anna proposed an all-expenses-paid trip to Marrakech at the five-star La Mamounia hotel, Rachel jumped at the chance. But when Anna’s credit cards mysteriously stopped working, the dream vacation quickly took a dark turn. Anna asked Rachel to begin fronting costs—first for flights, then meals and shopping, and, finally, for their $7,500-per-night private villa. Before Rachel knew it, more than $62,000 had been charged to her credit cards. Anna swore she would reimburse Rachel the moment they returned to New York.
Back in Manhattan, the repayment never materialized, and a shocking pattern of deception emerged. Rachel learned that Anna had left a trail of deceit—and unpaid bills—wherever she’d been. Mortified, Rachel contacted the district attorney, and in a stunning turn of events, found herself helping to bring down one of the city’s most notorious con artists.
With breathless pacing and in-depth reporting from the person who experienced it firsthand, My Friend Anna is an unforgettable true story of money, power, greed, and female friendship.
Shannon’s Rating: 3.75 (out of 5)
Shannon’s Review: One of the reasons I wanted to contribute to a review is because Rachel’s background is strikingly similar to my own. We were both raised in the South (her: Knoxville, TN. Me: Atlanta, GA). We’re both the oldest of three. We both have a parent from New York. We both had internships in New York City throughout college, moved to New York in 2010, and lived with relatives upon our arrival (her: grandmother. me: great-aunt). We’ve also both been scammed by someone close to us (more on that later).
I flew through this book, and enjoyed it immensely. Rachel describes her early years in New York working her dream job at Vanity Fair. When she explains how she came to know Anna, I could picture the scene perfectly—friends of friends of friends filtering in and out of trendy restaurants and clubs, and forming fast friendships in her mid-20s in New York. The turning point of Rachel and Anna’s whirlwind friendship is their trip to Marrakech, which Anna said she would pay for, and which ultimately left Rachel in major financial debt and emotional distress. (Sidenote: I have been fortunate enough to stay at La Mamounia in Marrakech [see photo], and it’s definitely worth it if you have the chance—but not if you have to pay the $62k bill yourself.)
The second half of the book was comprised of a lot of texts between Rachel and Anna, and could get a bit tedious at times, but absolutely conveyed the urgency and duress that Rachel was under while she waited (fruitlessly) for her former friend to repay her. Rachel’s honesty about enjoying Anna’s friendship (and the all-expenses-paid luxuries that came with that), and her vulnerability after she realized Anna was a con artist, was striking, and something I could relate to because, as mentioned above, I have also been taken advantage of financially. While my debt wasn’t nearly as large as Rachel’s (and wasn’t on a corporate card, threatening my job!), I spent weeks following up with an ex-boyfriend (and his parents) about money he owed me, and it caused similar distress and disruption in my life. It was a long time before I was able to trust myself to make sound character judgments again.
Ultimately, this book is about placing your trust in the wrong person (or people), and becoming a stronger person through the experience. While I certainly don’t envy Rachel, it was somewhat satisfying to know that her hard work contributed to taking down a con artist, and I hope it gives her some sense of closure and satisfaction.
I want to leave you with the below quotes, which I think many of us can relate to:
[Anna’s] influence spread undetected. While she bought me dinners and invited me on vacation, I deluded myself into thinking that, as reciprocity, my understanding, time, and attention would be enough. Meanwhile, under the guise of friendship, she tethered herself to my core. With every hour we spent together, her power grew. Where I felt connection, she felt control.*
…
It wasn’t an experience I’d wish upon anybody, but I did gain something valuable. Instead of losing trust in others, I found the strength to trust in myself.
*Emphasis added.
Elizabeth’s Rating: 3.75 (out of 5)
Elizabeth’s Review: I love a good scammer story — I find them equal parts fascinating, funny, and sad. I first learned about the Anna Delvey story when I read this story in The Cut, which then led me to this article in Vanity Fair, written by none other than the author of the book that we are reviewing. While I didn’t go far enough to follow her wardrobe in court, I did pick this book up the week it was released, and I read it in one sitting.
Even though I knew how it would end — Anna in jail, Rachel mostly restored back to the status quo — I was anxious for most of the book. As Shannon mentioned, a good portion of the second half of the book is Rachel reconstructing her relationship with Anna via copies of text messages, which was interesting and illuminating but I wouldn’t consider it breathless. Admittedly, I didn’t know the full scope of Rachel’s involvement with the ADA and her role in getting Anna arrested, and I loved (!) that she had such a big part in that — I may have let out a little cheer when Anna finally went to jail.
Like Rachel, I am a generally optimistic person, and I want to believe the people in my life — if there is no trust, why is there a close relationship? — so I can totally see how Rachel ended up in this situation. I can also see how I would get swept up in this tornado of a friendship; who doesn’t love the finer things in life? I appreciate Rachel’s honesty about the perks of her friendship with Anna and how she gradually ended up over her head. It reminded me of the method used to cook lobster — drop the unsuspecting creature into a pot of cold water and gradually turn up the heat to…well, boil them alive. That got darker than I intended.
Also like Rachel, I am one of those people who lives in great fear of disappointing her loved ones — at times, to the point of it almost being a character flaw. It completely resonated with me that she was afraid to tell people how she had fallen for Anna, gotten herself in a financial abyss, and couldn’t see a way out of it. I would be embarrassed, confused, and overwhelmed in that situation, and when I have been like that in the past, I bottle all of my emotions up and then either end up crying on the bus or having a panic attack. Believe it or not, reading this book was a little cathartic for me because it was a positive reminder that your people want to support you, however they can, and that just because you’ve made mistakes doesn’t mean they love you any less.
Trigger warnings: terrible female friends, toxic relationships, acute financial stress, financial abuse
TL; DR: An exciting, somewhat stressful read about realizing you’re trapped in a toxic friendship—and how important your support network is to help you out of a bad situation while you learn to trust yourself again.
If you liked this, try these:
The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust, Diana B. Henriques
And we know it’s a book blog, but either of the Fyre Festival documentaries would also be a good choice
FYI: When you click links in this post to purchase a product, SFOL might get a cut of your purchase. Thanks in advance!
