I was hesitant to pick up the new novel from Jessica Knoll as I really didn’t care for Luckiest Girl Alive, one of her previous published works which was turned into a Netflix film starring Mila Kunis. But I was pleasantly surpised by Bright Young Women, as it was a refreshing take on the oft cliched true crime drama narrative. Rather than focusing on the perpetrator, Knoll brings attention and humanity to the victims, their friends and their families.
The book follows two women across two different timelines:
- Ruth, a recently divorced woman living in Washington
- Pamela, a pre-law college student and President of her sorority in Florida
Based on the crimes of Ted Bundy, a serial killer who confessed to thrity murders committed between 1974 and 1978 across the United States, the story follows Pamela and Ruth who both have separate encounters with a Bundy-esque perpetrator (Knoll brilliantly never refers to him by name, only as “the defendant”). Unfortunatley, only one of them will survive their encounter with this sadistic killer, while the other fights to expose the flaws in the system which allowed him to move freely.
Whereas the media and true crime historians have labeled Bundy as handsome, charasmatic and intelligent, Knoll is sure to make it clear that Bundy, and those like him, was nothing more than a violent, manupualtive, misogynistic psychopath. Even after his capture and the details of his crimes were revealed, he is described as a charming academic and is being portrayed on film by Zac Efron and Chad Michael Murray. There was nothing remarkable about Bundy. If he was alive today, he would be appropritley described as a woman hating incel. Due to the incompitence, and in many cases the outright negligence of law enforcement, several of these murders would have been prevented had he been treated like the monster that he was, instead of being given opportunity after opportunity to weasle his way out of custody. In total, Bundy escaped custody twice and during his second escape he committed three additional murders.
Knoll takes care in crafting Pamela and Ruth. While these characters are inspired by the real victims of Bundy, it is very easy to relate to both women. They were just trying to move through a society where women were expected to be the pinnicle of perfection, where being homosexual could get you institutionalized, but where a serial killer was allowed to terrorize the country with near impunity for four years.
