I just finished Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll, and it was outstanding! It's a book about Ted Bundy's victims and a misogynistic society that gave him too much credit. It is explicitly NOT about Bundy as his name is pointedly omitted from the text.
The book centers around Pamela, a sorority sister from the FSU sorority where Bundy attacked four women, and Ruth, one of the women who disappeared at the lake in Seattle.
This isn't a story of a cunning, handsome, charming serial killer. This is a story of a misogynistic incel who was allowed to get away with numerous crimes due to police incompetence. Then he was lionized by the media as though he were something special.
Pamela and Ruth's girlfriend, Tina, have to navigate this circus as they seek justice for their loved ones. The book is enraging, empowering, and important!
by hannahismylove
20 Comments
That sounds incredible! I’ve always disliked the way serial killers are fetishized and their victims are objectified in so much of literature. Not long ago I watched The Investigation on HBO about Kim Wall’s murder (fictionalized story) and I loved the way they never said the murderer’s name or showed him, it was focused entirely on the investigative team, their exhaustive work, and the lead investigator’s relationship with her parents. It broke my heart but also really left me with questions about the way so much true crime focuses on the perpetrators – who are so often just grubby misogynists— at the expense of the people they harm, and the pain of those left behind.
The Five by Hallie Rubenhold was really flawed, but I loved the way she attempted to recover the identities of the Ripper’s victims and make them back into people with full lives.
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That was my favorite book of 2023.
I just finished this book yesterday actually and I have mixed feelings about it. I actually think it would have been a much better read if there wasn’t this abstract tie to Ted Bundy.
Everything that happened I was just thinking “so is this accurate or is this made up”. It kind of ruined it a bit for me because I wanted more historical than fiction I guess. I wanted to know the real stories of the real girls.
I know she did a ton of research including talking to the survivors and stuff. But it just kind of left me wanting more.
It was a good read for sure though, I think there was just a mismatch with my expectations.
Gosh dang I couldn’t finish this one and I’m not sure if it’s the headspace I was in at the time or if it was bc I had trouble following one of the narrators.
Love the concept, totally adding this to my reading list.
Just put this near the top of my list, intriguing premise!
It’s a very good book.
Made me think of the tweet
“He seemed very successful and normal. Unless of course you count his obvious and obsessive hatred of women, which we didn’t.”
It’s amazing!!
I loved the idea, I loved the concept, when I started reading I thought “omg I’m ready to give this 5 stars right now”, but the execution in the end was poor in my opinion.
As many said here, part fiction part reality was off throwing for me too. And it was too damn fragmented for me and hard to follow and there was too much legal side of it, and since you don’t know whether that’s fiction or not, it felt pointless to go into so much detail. It is beautifully written language wise though.
I ended up giving it 2 stars, last 100 pages I had to force myself to read because it had got quiet boring for me
As someone who is a current UW student and grew up right next to Issaquah, Washington, this novel is hitting hard for me. It’s not very usual that I’m able to visualize things so clearly while reading books, and it makes it so emotionally connected to me.
late to the post but I just finished the book and I feel like I’m still grieving for Ruth. ugh I really did love her in this book especially towards the end. such great takes on grief. I am excited this will become a series though (pretty sure it says it on knolls ig). overall I really loved the book. I try not to read too many books that make me viscerally go UGH (another example for me is handmaids tale) but the writing is too good to pass up
Can someone help explain to me why Rebecca(Ruth’s ex) wanted to hide the tapes😭 I couldn’t understand her reasoning
Thank you for your synopsis. It was very well written and accurate.
The book was an enraging but powerful read for me too! Loved the book!
it’s excellent! it slashes the enormous myth that is ted bundy… he was not a clever charismatic intelligent educated good looking guy that women swooned over… that was the male tone of the 1970’s – women were at fault bc they were taken by this guy & his overwhelming charm & good looks… women couldn’t help themselves against him. in fact he was not well educated and he was not a lawyer… he wasn’t even a law student! he couldn’t get into law school bc his test scores were so poor… he got into a tiny night school in the room of a building in tacoma and couldn’t even get thru one semester before going on his rampage for 3-4 years. he posed as a law student. he wasn’t a law student. police incompetence and rumors fed the media’s narrative about his cunning behavior and brilliance. he was nothing but a slimy little man who could be any other psychotic incel today. the difference in my opinion is he did more hands on destruction to innocents than today’s incels who use weapons to kill many innocent people all at once.
nobody listened to the women in the 70’s (as if much has changed today 2024)
misogyny is the cause for his 4 year spree.
not his character.
the author took her time and did the research to find out who Really was this guy…
he was nothing. typical loser.
the women he destroyed were something however… Bright Young Women.
the infamous comments made by the judge at the end of the big trial, may be the reason for the title of the book.
as he complimented the criminal on his intelligence and his personality…
if you’re interested in what he actually said, it’s worth looking into.
**a fun fact. ted bundy carved his name into the old beautiful wood table on the defendant side of the courtroom – where he sat during the trial.
and guess what the court did?
they put a acrylic plate over it to protect it and keep it from getting ruined.
read the book – it’s about the women who were affected by the brute … not about him. as i mentioned… he is a myth. not a human.
The final Ruth chapter broke my heart. And I really enjoyed Tina as a character.
Can anyone explain Ruth’s death to me? Was there another woman present?
I don’t think Knoll was trying to profit from real tragedies. It’s often harder to make an audience feel so closely connected to a real life person (unless you’re writing about yourself) than to a realistic fictional character. I think she wanted us to really care about the victims and feel like we knew them. Knoll is a biographical writer, and I don’t think she was trying to memorialize victims or steal their stories. She was just telling a compelling story set in a real-life scenario that feels like it should be fiction. It’s wild that TB has been glorified for so long purely as a result of how the media and law enforcement portrayed him. And due to the fact that women are often not taken seriously.
I’ll just end with my favorite quote from the book that perfectly illustrates what I feel is the main theme of this book:
“Women got that feeling about him, that funny one we all get when we know something isn’t right, but we don’t know how to politely extricate ourselves from the situation without escalating the threat of violence or harassment. That is not a skill women are taught, the same way men are not taught that it is okay to leave a woman alone if what she wants is to be left alone.”
“Incel.” I think that’s the wrong word. More like bastard or garbage
I cannot stand Ruth – she lives with her mom, complains about things when she’s driven places and being taken care of at the age of like 23 or 27? Does it get any better? She’s just had Tina come over for lunch with her and her nephew that she hates (again, she’s an adult and complains about her nephew being mean – he’s a KID!)?!??? Does it improve?