I had vaguely heard of the story of Anna Delvey when it made the rounds on social media. Admittedly, I went into this tale expecting a ruckus tale of rich people shenanigans and extortion. I was pleasantly surprised with what this book actually is.

The level of self-reflection in this work is something else. You can easily see how Williams fell under Delvey’s spell, under the guise of trust that got taken advantage of. The mismatch of friendship expectation made this a slow read for me because even though it’s public knowledge how the cons ended. The pacing when Williams tries to get in touch with the increasingly distant Anna leaps off the page, especially given the plain presentation of their correspondence.

Much quieter than expected, but heart-aching and engaging nonetheless.