Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Confident Women: Swindlers, Grifters, and Shapeshifters of the Feminine Persuasion
    Confident Women: Swindlers, Grifters, and Shapeshifters of the Feminine Persuasion
    Confident Women: Swindlers, Grifters, and Shapeshifters of the Feminine Persuasion
    Audiobook7 hours

    Confident Women: Swindlers, Grifters, and Shapeshifters of the Feminine Persuasion

    Written by Tori Telfer

    Narrated by Jaime Lamchick

    4/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    A thoroughly entertaining and darkly humorous roundup of history’s notorious but often forgotten female con artists and their bold, outrageous scams—by the acclaimed author of Lady Killers.

    From Elizabeth Holmes and Anna Delvey to Frank Abagnale and Charles Ponzi, audacious scams and charismatic scammers continue to intrigue us as a culture. As Tori Telfer reveals in Confident Women, the art of the con has a long and venerable tradition, and its female practitioners are some of the best—or worst.

    In the 1700s in Paris, Jeanne de Saint-Rémy scammed the royal jewelers out of a necklace made from six hundred and forty-seven diamonds by pretending she was best friends with Queen Marie Antoinette.

    In the mid-1800s, sisters Kate and Maggie Fox began pretending they could speak to spirits and accidentally started a religious movement that was soon crawling with female con artists. A gal calling herself Loreta Janeta Velasquez claimed to be a soldier and convinced people she worked for the Confederacy—or the Union, depending on who she was talking to. Meanwhile, Cassie Chadwick was forging paperwork and getting banks to loan her upwards of $40,000 by telling people she was Andrew Carnegie’s illegitimate daughter.

    In the 1900s, a 40something woman named Margaret Lydia Burton embezzled money all over the country and stole upwards of forty prized show dogs, while a few decades later, a teenager named Roxie Ann Rice scammed the entire NFL. And since the death of the Romanovs, women claiming to be Anastasia have been selling their stories to magazines. What about today? Spoiler alert: these “artists” are still conning. 

    Confident Women asks the provocative question: Where does chutzpah intersect with a uniquely female pathology—and how were these notorious women able to so spectacularly dupe and swindle their victims?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateFeb 23, 2021
    ISBN9780062956057
    Author

    Tori Telfer

    Tori Telfer is the author of Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History and the host of the podcasts Criminal Broads, Why Women Kill: Truth, Lies, and Labels (CBS All Access), and Red Flags (Investigation Discovery). She lives in New York City with her husband and son.

    Related to Confident Women

    Related audiobooks

    Con Artists & Hoaxes For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      A Very French Affair

      Mar 10, 2019

      A Very French Affair
      8 min read

    • Article

      Women With Wings

      Sep 24, 2019

      Women With Wings
      10 min read

    • Article

      “Getting Thrilled, Titillated Or Angry At Celebrities Can Change How We Think”

      Mar 19, 2020

      Ellie Cawthorne: You argue in the book that celebrity is a slippery concept. How do you define it? Greg Jenner: When I began writing, I made the foolish assumption that there would be a clear-cut definition of celebrity. But a year-and-a-half later

      7 min read

    • Article

      Book Club

      Jun 21, 2023

      Book Club
      5 min read

    • Article

      Book Club

      Jul 16, 2020

      Book Club
      4 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Jan 23, 2023

      Books
      6 min read

    • Article

      A Bloody Grand Finale

      Apr 13, 2023

      A Bloody Grand Finale
      4 min read

    • Article

      Dawn Neesom Mind Of My Own

      Aug 30, 2022

      The bra has gone bust. Evidently sales are declining as younger women ditch them in favour of letting it all hang out naturally. All very well when gravity is on your side and the rigours of babies and breastfeeding haven’t bothered your boobs, but

      4 min read

    • Article

      Letter From The Founder

      Feb 7, 2020

      For the majority of my life I’ve been underestimated. And I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I vividly recall, when I was a child, my grandmother inviting a fortune teller to divine the potential trajectory of my life. In particular, I remember th

      3 min read

    • Article

      Letter From The Editor

      Feb 11, 2021

      Letter From The Editor
      3 min read

    • Article

      This Weekend

      Mar 16, 2020

      If you’re looking for that beautiful, conversation-worthy piece for your home, then move aside malls, and hello markets. Kamers is back for another autumn showcase, with over 180 ‘makers’ offering you their best wares. Kamers is arguably one of the b

      4 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Feb 19, 2021

      At a local newspaper in South East London in 1957, journalist Jean Swinney receives a curious letter written to the editor. Gretchen Tilbury – abeautiful, well-to-do woman – claims her 10-year-old daughter is the product of a virgin birth. Gretchen h

      5 min read

    • Article

      Book Club

      Jul 10, 2019

      Book Club
      5 min read

    • Article

      On The Box

      Sep 28, 2021

      On The Box
      2 min read

    • Article

      Lost And Found

      Dec 5, 2021

      Lost And Found
      9 min read

    • Article

      Afternoon Delight

      Dec 26, 2021

      Afternoon Delight
      4 min read

    • Article

      RIP The Glamourpuss

      Jul 26, 2023

      Botox, fillers and surgery have made cosmetic perfection attainable and banal. And celebrities are constantly baring their souls or revealing their ‘truth’, rendering their over-shared life stories banal – and distinctly unglamorous. How times have c

      3 min read

    • Article

      Book Club

      Jan 5, 2022

      Book Club
      5 min read

    • Article

      'Murder, Magic, and What We Wore' Is the Diet Sprite of Regency Romps

      Nov 3, 2017

      The young adult novel is full of fits and starts, but charming in a way that feels as sweetly ingenuous as its heroine

      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Confident Women

    4/5

    78 ratings3 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Very interesting! I felt that at times the women were sensationalized. A criminal is a criminal and these women ruined lives.
    • 5/5
      The synopsis describes this book as a thoroughly entertaining and darkly humorous round-up of history’s notorious but often forgotten female con artists and their bold, outrageous scams and I honestly can't disagree. Tori Telfer has an interesting take on confidence crimes which is what made this book so much fun to read. She's researched a whole bunch of infamous con women to tell their stories, shining a light on their brilliant guile, confidence, and sheer audacity. If you love true crime then you'll love learning about the exploits and escapes of these remarkable women. I certainly had the best time learning about all of these criminals.
    • 5/5
      Loved it. The reader was really great and the stories were wonderful