When We Were Bright and Beautiful

The critically acclaimed and best-selling author of This Could Hurt makes a triumphant comeback with her most ambitious and daring book to date: a riveting, convoluted, and intensely poignant family drama situated on Manhattan's opulent Upper East Side, delving into the shadowy aspects of love, the boundaries of loyalty, and the costly price of veracity.

Even with all, there will always be insufficient.

Despite her young age of twenty-three, Cassie Quinn is not without experience. One: Although having pleasure is preferable than not having it, money cannot purchase it. Two: Above all, family matters. Three: Billy, her younger brother, does not commit rapes.

Following her elder brother Nate's arrest for hitting his ex-girlfriend, Cassie, a junior at Princeton, rushes back to Manhattan to team up with their parents, Lawrence and Eleanor. Billy matches the all-too-familiar sex-offender profile—white, athletic, and privileged—that generates headlines and sways juries. The Quinns are frantically trying to employ the greatest legal brains money can buy.

Even though the split was difficult, Cassie finds it difficult to comprehend why Billy's ex-girlfriend Diana would go to this extent. She is also aware of the devastation that a failed first love may cause: She was destroyed by her own years-long romance with a strong, charming guy, and she has only just started to feel like herself again.

The Quinns brace themselves for a media-heavy trial as reporters swarm their iconic Upper East Side building, and Cassie swears she will stop at nothing to preserve Billy. However, what if doing so requires disclosing to the public her own deepest secrets?

When Were Bright and Beautiful is a stunning story that asks: who will pay the price when the truth is revealed? It is lightning-paced and psychologically perceptive as it shoots toward an explosive finale.