The Last Mrs. Parrish

Amber Patterson is displeased with her life and hates the rich women who surround her at the gym. A familiar woman steps onto the elliptical machine next to hers, and Amber intentionally knocks her magazine to the floor. The woman retrieves it and questions Amber about reading the Cystic Fibrosis Trust’s magazine. Amber lies and says that her sister died of the disease; the woman expresses sympathy, discusses her own sister’s death, then introduces herself as Daphne Parrish. Daphne invites Amber to coffee. That night, Amber reflects on her coffee with Daphne, which was filled with lies about Amber’s nonexistent dead sister. Amber asks to help Daphne with her foundation, the Julie’s Smile Foundation, claiming that she does not have money but does have time to help with an upcoming fundraiser. Daphne invites her to the next committee meeting.

Amber takes a train from her home in Bishops Harbor to New York City. She window-shops and goes to the New York Public Library, where she meditates before walking to Central Park and eating a small lunch. She goes to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and looks at the paintings she has studied since her last visit. Amber has spent her free time educating herself on topics of interest to the rich to draw the attention of