How Has This Slyly Smart Thriller Never Been a Reese or Jenna Book Club Pick?

Based on true events (the 1978 Ted Bundy FSU sorority house murders), the novel follows the fictional Pamela Schumacher, the Type A president of house, and the only witness to a horrific attack committed during the cloak of night. As she bravely tries to help the police (themselves mired in the sexism and myopia of the day), she comes into contact with another woman with a story to tell: Tina Cannon, who has traveled to Florida with a dark past and a sense of who the murderer may be.

Knoll does a number of interesting things in this fast-paced book. First of all, she never mentions the murderer by name, simply calling him “the Defendant.” Secondly, she directs the narrative away from the gory crime itself, never letting us wallow (or bask) in its depravity. Rather, she centers the novel on the women, the survivors—how their lives were changed and the stories they might want to tell if given the chance.

A tightly plotted thriller with feminist overlays? Sounds like just the sort of thing Reese and Jenna might enjoy. Having already hit many best-of lists when it published two years ago, Bright Young Women doesn’t exactly need their help. Still, I’d wager it’s worth them grabbing a copy.