In this episode of The Reference Desk, Katie is bewitched with the story of Manhattan grifter-extraordinaire Anna Delvey (Anna Sorokin)

For several years, the New York City upper crust embraced a charming young German heiress named Anna Delvey. Delvey was a chic, bold entrepreneur who was pursuing funding for her brainchild the Anna Delvey Foundation when Vanity Fair photo editor Rachel DeLoache Williams met her. The pair formed an unlikely friendship involving celebrity trainers, infrared sauna treatments, and expensive meals in SoHo's hottest restaurants. But the pair's friendship turned sour when a so-called "dream vacation" to Morocco left Rachel with more than $60,000 in credit card debt, which Delvey refused to reimburse as promised. Rachel would soon discover that she was only one in a long line of victims Delvey defrauded.

Recommended titles (available in our bookshop)

All These Bodies by Kendare Blake

My Friend Anna by Rachel DeLoache Williams

How to Lead a Life of Crime by Kirsten Miller

The Curse Workers trilogy by Holly Black

The Widow of Wall Street by Randy Susan Meyers

To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris

Conman: A Master Swindler's Own Story by J.R. 'Yellow Kid' Weil and W.T. Branson

Can You Ever Forgive Me? by Lee Israel

Empire of Deception by Dean Jobb

Links:

New York Magazine piece by Jessica Pressler

Vanity Fair piece by Rachel DeLoache Williams

Trailer for Netflix's "Inventing Anna"

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