Book Review: Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

Book: Bright Young Women 

Author: Jessica Knoll 

Pages: 384

Read on: Kindle 

Read in: ~4 hours 

Plot Summary: January 1978. A serial killer has terrorized women across the Pacific Northwest, but his existence couldn’t be further from the minds of the vibrant young women at the top sorority on Florida State University’s campus in Tallahassee. Tonight is a night of promise, excitement, and desire, but Pamela Schumacher, president of the sorority, makes the unpopular decision to stay home—a decision that unwittingly saves her life. Startled awake at 3 a.m. by a strange sound, she makes the fateful decision to investigate. What she finds behind the door is a scene of implausible violence—two of her sisters dead; two others, maimed. Over the next few days, Pamela is thrust into a terrifying mystery inspired by the crime that’s captivated 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. A chance encounter brings twenty-five-year-old Ruth Wachowsky into her life, a young woman with painful secrets of her own, and the two form an instant connection. When Ruth 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 she hears about the tragedy in Tallahassee, she knows it’s the man the papers refer to as the All-American Sex Killer. 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.

Bright Young Women is the story about two women from opposite sides of the country who become sisters in their fervent pursuit of the truth. It proposes a new narrative inspired by evidence that’s been glossed over for decades in favor of more salable headlines—that the so-called brilliant and charismatic serial killer from Seattle was far more average than the countless books, movies, and primetime specials have led us to believe, and that it was the women whose lives he cut short who were the exceptional ones.

Things I Liked: 

1. This is a brilliant, amazing book. Let's get that out of the way. I loved it and devoured it in, pretty much, one sitting. It is that good! 

2. A book like this, a narrative like this, has been a long-time coming. American media's almost hero worship of Ted Bundy has always seemed slightly off-putting and disgusting to me. He has been described, even by a publication as reputed as the New York Times, as being good-looking/ Kennedy-esque- looking and with fine manners. Whereas, the truth is that he was just an average, clean-cut guy, who spoke nicely to women he was going to kidnap, r*pe and murder. That doesn't make him some prince charming! 

So, imagine my delight when this book showed this monster exactly how he was- an average LOSER! Not good enough to crack law school, not good enough to make relationships work and also, not really some brilliant killer, who evaded law enforcement. In fact, law enforcement was inept and corrupt in Colorado, from where he managed to escape prison twice! 

The author peels back layer upon layer of this well-known case and shines a light on the bright, extraordinary women, whose lives were cut short by this man. College-going girls, girls with futures, girls with people who loved them. Girls, whose very existence must have bothered this monster because he was an abject failure at academics and life. So, yeah, a jealous little man - not some brilliant serial killer. Let's, finally, call him what he was! 

3. The story is told via a split-time narrative between 2021 when Pamela travels back to Tallahassee on receiving a death threat and between 1974 (Ruth and Tina's story) and 1978 (the killings at the sorority house and the aftermath). Each of these timelines and events make for compelling reading and show how ill-equipped law enforcement was to deal with a criminal like Bundy and of how little value the lives of women were. In fact, even after the brutal attack on the sorority, the city authorities refused to compensate them for their losses blaming the girls for allegedly letting Bundy in! Can you believe that?! Since the crimes had a sexual component to them, the state officials assumed that the girls had something to do with it and it was their fault that this monster killed and grievously injured them in their own home! 

4. Loved the characters- Pamela, Tina, Ruth. Each of their stories was moving and interesting. The lives of women in the 70s- their challenges, their desire to do more with themselves, their messed up relationships with their parents- all of it was so interesting. Don't want to give too much away here but this was one of my most favourite aspects of the book. 

5. The writing is beautiful and the narrative is fast-paced. There is a lot that the book makes you think and question and I loved that about it. This is a must-read book for all women, especially, if you are true crime fans. 

Rating: 5/5