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3.0 

When We Were Bright and Beautiful

By Jillian Medoff
When We Were Bright and Beautiful by Jillian Medoff digital book - Fable

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Publisher Description

“Two parts Gone Girl, two parts Notes on a Scandal. . .will play with your expectations about who’s the villain and who’s the victim.” — Jennifer Weiner, USA Today

Longlisted for the Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize for Fiction

The acclaimed, bestselling author of This Could Hurt returns with her biggest, boldest novel yet—an electrifying, twisty, and deeply emotional family drama, set on Manhattan’s glittering Upper East Side, that explores the dark side of love, the limits of loyalty, and the high cost of truth.

You can have everything, and still not have enough. 

Cassie Quinn may only be twenty-three, but she knows a few things. One: money can’t buy happiness, but it’s certainly better to have it. Two: family matters most. Three: her younger brother Billy is not a rapist.

When Billy, a junior at Princeton, is arrested for assaulting his ex-girlfriend, Cassie races home to Manhattan to join forces with her big brother Nate and their parents, Lawrence and Eleanor. The Quinns scramble to hire the best legal minds money can buy, but Billy fits the all-too-familiar sex-offender profile—white, athletic, and privileged—that makes headlines and sways juries.

Meanwhile, Cassie struggles to understand why Billy’s ex Diana would go this far, even if the breakup was painful. And she knows how the end of first love can destroy someone: Her own years-long affair with a powerful, charismatic man left her shattered, and she’s only recently regained her footing.   

As reporters converge outside their Upper East Side landmark building, the Quinns gird themselves for a media-saturated trial, and Cassie vows she’ll do whatever it takes to save Billy. But what if that means exposing her own darkest secrets to the world?

Lightning-paced and psychologically astute as it rockets toward an explosive ending, When We Were Bright and Beautiful is a dazzling novel that asks: who will pay the price when the truth is revealed? 

2661 Reviews

3.0
Surprised Face with Open Mouth“I listened to this on audiobook and I absolutely loved it. An amazing piece of literature! I loved this author and will definitely be reading her other books. Beautifully written and thought provoking! Well done. Timely. Highly recommend! 👏👏👏 Difficult and tough subject matter for many people to understand and swallow, however, it is very important to not be ignored.”
“I was surprised how much of an impact this book had on me. It contains content that is pretty hard to take in; yet it’s incredibly well “revealed”. My biggest takeaway, we never know what is going on behind closed doors.”
Anxious Face with sweat“A lot of TWs here, proceed with caution ⚠️. This was a tough one to swallow but it was well written and thought provoking. This one needs time to rest before I fully appreciate what I just read.”

About Jillian Medoff

Jillian Medoff is the author of the national bestseller I COULDN'T LOVE YOU MORE, as well as the novels GOOD GIRLS GONE BAD and HUNGER POINT. A former fellow at MacDowell, Blue Mountain Center, VCCA, and Fundación Valparaiso, she has an MFA from NYU. In addition to writing fiction, Jillian has a long career in management consulting and is currently a Senior Consultant at the Segal Group, where she advises clients on all aspects of the employee experience.

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