Bright Young Women

‘Cleverly constructed [. . .] psychologically astute and written with flair.’ – The Sunday Times

‘A compelling, almost hypnotic read’ – Lisa Jewell, bestselling author of None of This is True

‘Bright Young Women is Jessica Knoll at her best: an unflinching and evocative novel’ – Laura Dave, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Thing He Told Me

January 1978. Tallahassee. When sorority president Pamela Schumacher is startled awake at 3 a.m. by a strange sound, she’s shocked to encounter a scene of implausible violence – two of her friends dead and two others, maimed. Thrust into a terrifying mystery, Pamela becomes entangled in a crime that captivates public interest for more than four decades . . .

On the other side of the country, Tina Cannon has found peace in Seattle after years of hardship. When Ruth, her best friend, goes missing from Lake Sammamish State Park in broad daylight, surrounded by thousands of beachgoers on a beautiful summer day, Tina devotes herself to finding out what happened to her.

When Tina hears about the tragedy in Tallahassee, she suspects the same man the papers refer to is responsible. Determined to make him answer for what he did to Ruth, she travels to Florida on a collision course with Pamela – and one last impending tragedy.

From the author of the New York Times bestseller and #1 Netflix movie Luckiest Girl Alive comes Jessica Knoll’s extraordinary novel inspired by the real-life sorority targeted by America’s first celebrity serial killer in his final murderous spree.

Praise for Bright Young Women:

‘This book is extraordinary’ – Catherine Ryan-Howard, author of Run Time

‘Writing with pulse-pounding tension and urgency, Knoll expertly conjures an atmosphere of dread and anxiety . . . An utterly absorbing, disturbing, and absolutely essential read.’ – Booklist, Starred Review

Author Biography

Jessica Knoll is the New York Times bestselling author of Luckiest Girl Alive, which was made into a number one Netflix movie starring Mila Kunis. She has been a senior editor at Cosmopolitan and the articles editor at Self. She grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and graduated from the Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their bulldog, Beatrice. Bright Young Women is her third novel.