The Best Books On Elizabeth Holmes, Anna Delvey And Other True-Crime Women Scammers

Can't stop watching "The Dropout" or "Inventing Anna"? These books tell the true stories behind the addictive television series.
"My Friend Anna" by Rachel DeLoache Williams, "Bad Blood" by John Carreyrou and "Confident Women" by Tori Telfer.

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If you can’t stop watching “The Dropout” and “Inventing Anna,” you’re already gripped by real-life tales of women who lie, cheat and steal. So if you’re looking for some extended reading, or just want to pass the time before the next episode of “WeCrashed,” these non-fiction books about women scammers, grifters, thieves and frauds are a great place to start.

While crime novels are certainly rousing, there’s something extra thrilling about outlandish tales that are totally true. From a 19-year-old Stanford dropout named Elizabeth Holmes starting a fraudulent $9 billion biotech company to a pack of high school students creating a burglary ring of celebrities’ homes, these are stories about real women doing real crimes. Some even paid the time for it. (Looking at you, Anna Sorokin.)

So to keep up with all these (lady) scams, check out these books about women con artists and fraudsters.

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1
"Bad Blood" by John Carreyrou
If you're up on the latest "The Dropout" episode, you've likely heard the name John Carreyrou. He's a former Wall Street Journal reporter turned non-fiction author cited for breaking the Elizabeth Holmes/Theranos scandal in 2015.

"Bad Blood," published in 2018, is a look at Holmes' rising fame as a groundbreaking female biotech entrepreneur and Carreyrou's involvement with the ultimate decline of her company, Theranos. He interviewed over 150 former staffers, patients, investors and others entangled in Theranos to tell the story from many angles.
2
"My Friend Anna" by Rachel DeLoache Williams
"Inventing Anna" lovers will know Rachel DeLoache Williams as the former Vanity Fair staffer and friend of convicted con artist Anna Sorokin, also known as Anna Delvey.

"My Friend Anna" is Williams' own account of her relationship with the fake heiress and upper crust New York City swindler, Anna Sorokin, including their infamous trip to Morocco, where Sorokin racked up over $60,000 in bills that Williams covered with her corporate credit card.
3
"The Woman Who Fooled The World" by Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano
Listeners of the wellness debunking podcast "Maintenance Phase" likely already know the name Belle Gibson. She's an Australian cookbook author and one of the first major Instagram influencers who lied about having cancer and other chronic illnesses. Gibson rose to fame by selling a plant-based diet book and recipe app "The Whole Pantry" that she claimed cured her cancer.

Gibson took on a Goop-like mission, singing the praises of expensive health food store powders and potions, and ultimately was fined by the Australian government for "misleading and deceptive conduct" as well as lying about donating profits to charities. "The Woman Who Fooled The World" is an investigative look at the rise and fall of Gibson's health empire and lies, by Australian journalists Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano.
4
"Confident Women" by Tori Telfer
"Confident Women" is a non-fiction book about women swindlers, grifters and con artists. With scams leading back to Marie Antoinette in 1700s Paris, each chapter centers a different woman scammer and the havoc they wreaked. If you can't get enough women-centered true crime, check out Telfer's other book, "Lady Killers," and her podcast, "Criminal Broads."
5
"The Cult of We" by Eliot Brown and Maureen Farrell
Though the rise and fall of WeWork centers on since-resigned CEO Adam Neumann, his wife undoubtedly had a starring role.

A cousin of Gwyneth Paltrow and an amateur filmmaker, Rebekah Neumann had lofty goals for her family and is reported to be the brains behind much of WeWork's later growth, including WeGrow, a WeWork school.

"The Cult of We" follows the growth and decline of the co-working space-turned-$47 billion-dollar lifestyle company from journalists Eliot Brown and Maureen Farrell. For more, check out AppleTV's "WeCrashed," in which Adam and Rebekah are played by Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway.
6
"Can You Ever Forgive Me?" by Lee Israel
Memoir lovers rejoice. In "Can You Ever Forgive Me?" Lee Israel gives all the juicy details of her shift from a New York Times bestselling biographer to a convicted literary forger. Israel, who ultimately served house arrest and five years of federal probation, was estimated to have forged and sold over 400 letters from late writers and actors. In 2018, she was the focus of the film adaptation of the same name, starring Melissa McCarthy.
7
"The Bling Ring" by Nancy Jo Sales
"The Bling Ring" by Nancy Jo Sales is an in-depth look at a group of seven teenagers in Calabasas, California, who notoriously broke into celebrities' homes pocketing cash, clothes, shoes and jewelry between 2008 and 2009.

Led by Rachel Lee and Alexis Haines (née Neiers), the group was dubbed "The Bling Ring" or "Hollywood Hills Burglar Bunch" and famously targeted celebs like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. Sales first wrote about the group in her famous 2010 Vanity Fair story, "The Suspects Wore Louboutins," which was the inspiration for Sofia Coppola's 2013 film "The Bling Ring." In this book, Sales gives background on each member of the group and details how Lee and Haines organized their burglary sprees.

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