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The Woman Who Fooled the World

Written by: Beau Donelly, Nick Toscano
Narrated by: James Saunders
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Publisher's Summary

Belle Gibson convinced the world she had healed herself from terminal brain cancer with a healthy diet. She built a global business based upon her claims. There was just one problem: she'd never had cancer.

In 2015, journalists uncovered the truth: this hero of the wellness world, with over 200,000 followers, international book deals and a best-selling smartphone app, was a fraud. She had lied about having cancer - to her family and friends, to her business partners and publishers, and to the hundreds of thousands of people, including genuine cancer survivors, who were inspired by her Instagram posts.

Written by the same multiaward-winning journalists who uncovered the details of Gibson's lies, The Woman Who Fooled the World tracks the 23-year-old's rise to fame and fall from grace. Told through interviews with the people who know her best, it unravels the mystery and motivation behind this deception and follows the public reaction to a scandal that made headlines around the world.

The Woman Who Fooled the World explores the lure of alternative cancer treatments, the cottage industry flourishing behind the wellness and 'clean eating' movements and the power of social media. It documents the devastating impact this con had on Gibson's fans and on people suffering from cancer. Ultimately, it answers not just how but why Gibson was able to fool so many.

©2017 Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano (P)2017 Audible, Ltd
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Fantastic

I had recently listened to the 'Scamanda' podcast about the American, Amanda Riley, who faked cancer and scammed friends, family and followers out of money and gifts. Around the same time that she was perpetrating this fraud, Belle Gibson in Australia was doing the exact same thing, except she took it another level, roping in Apple with her smartphone app and Penguin Publishing with her cookbook concept.

Beau Donelly does a great job in this tell-all. He breaks down Belle's journey from delusional & deceptive teenager to manipulative and criminal adult. At the same time he exposes the culture of rampant misinformation that pervades the wellness industry and the role that social media has in perpetuating this kind of fraud.

People, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is!!!

Well worth a listen. The narrator was great.

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