

Quick take
In this gripping story set in the shadows of New York’s elite, one family begins to unravel in the wake of scandal.
Good to know
Family drama
Legal thriller
Unsettling
NYC
Synopsis
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?
Content warning
Free sample
When We Were Bright and Beautiful
1
This is Billy’s story. But if I were the one telling it, I would start with Nate’s call. For me, that’s the pivot point between before and after; the moment I was, for lack of a better expression, jolted awake.
“Cassie? You there?” Nate, my older brother, is shouting into the phone. He’s back in New York, and he’s frantic. “Where have you been? I’ve been calling for hours.”
“I’m sorry. I was in the library. I shut off my—”
“Cassie, listen, okay? Something awful happened to Billy.”
Nate is talking so fast his sentences bleed together. I make out the word rape, but that can’t be right. Then he says it again.
“Billy was raped?” This can’t be true. Our younger brother isn’t just strong; he’s also scrappy as hell. “Is this a joke? If so, it’s not funny.”
“Come on, Cassandra. Billy wasn’t raped, he was arrested for rape.” His voice is tinged with antipathy. “I wish I were joking. The girl is out for blood. She . . .” Trailing off, he leaves me to twist.
At twenty-five, Nate is a typical big brother, as bossy as he is protective. I’m twenty-three, and Billy is twenty-two. Billy and I are Irish twins; we’ve been inseparable our whole lives.
“Who’s the girl, Nate?” I ask, though I fear I already know.
“Diana Holly.”
Oh, shit. My body stiffens like I’m girding for battle. If Diana Holly is involved, something is very wrong.
“Yes,” Nate agrees, though I’ve said nothing. “You’re right.”
Our family is partial to silence, but like many siblings, my brothers and I communicate telepathically. At the moment, for instance, Nate and I are tallying up all the ways Diana has hurt Billy before, and the signs that she’d one day go too far.
Why I love it

Aimee Molloy
Author, Goodnight Beautiful
One of a novelist’s most difficult—and rarest—achievements is to write a book so richly layered it spans multiple genres. When We Were Bright and Beautiful, the fifth novel by the uber-talented Jillian Medoff is just that.
Is it a family saga? A courtroom drama? A domestic thriller with a gasp-inducing twist that will make you question everything you just read? Yes, yes, and yes.
The novel is structured around the criminal trial of Billy Quinn, a star athlete at Princeton accused of rape by an ex-girlfriend. But the story really belongs to Cassie, Billy’s older sister, who serves as narrator. Twenty-three years old and whip-smart, Cassie rushes to join her family in defending her brother. She controls this story, telling us only what she wants us to know, from the details of the investigation to the courtroom theatrics that grab the public’s attention, to the darker side of the Quinn’s glittering and glamorous life on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. But Cassie is hiding a secret of her own—for years she’s been involved with a married older man. The revelation not only increases the stakes, but it’s where the book’s cumulative power and purpose reside.
When We Were Bright and Beautiful is a masterful novel—it features the kind of propulsive storytelling that will rope you into reading it in one day. But more than that, it is also an important and daring book that will spark many lively and vital discussions about consent, wealth, power, privilege, and our preconceived ideas about how women’s stories should be told.
Member ratings (19,760)
Rebecca F.
ATLANTA, GA
It feels odd to choose “love” on a book that humanizes an accused rapist’s family. You also question the characters’ actions and whether you like what you’re reading. But I was intrigued throughout.
Chelsea S.
Los Angeles, CA
I can understand the mixed reviews on this book. It’s hard to read - as in the central crime is heinous. And with a narrator who’s on the side of the accused it makes it even harder. But it’s worth it
Cassidy H.
Atlanta, GA
This book was intriguing and I couldn’t put it down. The characters are complex, but the author humanizes their faults and makes you question your assumptions — Not everything is always what it seems.
Melissa N.
Port Jervis, NY
I think this is the first book I’ve ever read where I hated the characters. This author did a great job making them very unlikeable. It’s a disturbing story that is very relevant in this day and age.
Jordan A.
Wilmington, NC
Echo it feels strange to “love” a book with this content. But the layers and narratives gave it a complexity that I wanted to keep reading to understand. How it moves through timelines was masterful.