Bright Young Women: Redirecting the Spotlight
Let me begin by insisting you read Bright Young Women. It is a crime/thriller novel written by Jessica Knoll in 2023. There are two main timelines, and the story alternates between them. One is set in 1978 and follows Pamela. Pamela's a student at Florida State University who is attempting to manage the aftermath of her best friend's murder. The other follows Ruth in 1974. Ruth is an aspiring culinary student who falls victim to the same brutal murderer of Pamela's friend. Among the main two narratives are snippets of an older Pamela, still seeking answers in 2021.
Pamela, Ruth, and the other victims within the novel are not helpless damsels in distress. They are intelligent women, terrorised by a monster known only as 'the defendant.' In the end, it's the female characters who piece together the truth about the defendant. The female characters who confront law enforcement with the identity of the killer. Only to be met with negligent incompetence.
The novel is a fictionalised reflection of the real-life murders committed by Ted Bundy. Between 1974 and 1978, Bundy perpetrated a violent spree entailing the kidnap, rape, and murder of women. [1974 is when the first confirmed murders occurred, although this is a subject of debate].
Karen Sparks was one of the many attacked. Karen was a political science student at the University of Washington who he brutally bludgeoned whilst she was in bed. Karen Sparks survived the attack but experienced some loss of both her vision and hearing. Lynda Ann Healy is another unfortunate woman whose path crossed with Bundy. Lynda was also a University of Washington student who majored in psychology. She was abducted from her home in the middle of the night. Her body was discovered a year later on Taylor Mountain. Donna Gail Manson. She was kidnapped on her way to a concert. Susan Elaine Rancourt is another woman whose life was irreparably altered. An attempt to capture two other women that night had been made by the assailant but he was unsuccessful. Like Lynda, Susan's remains were also discovered on Taylor Mountain. Roberta Kathleen Parks. Roberta was last seen alive at Oregon State University. She was another woman whose remains were discovered on Taylor Mountain. Then Brenda Carol Ball. Passerybys saw Brenda speaking to a man with his arm in a sling, this was the last time people saw her alive. Georgann Hawkins. Bundy abducted Georgann from outside her sorority house. Janice Ann Ott. Denise Marie Naslund. He abducted Janice and Denise in broad daylight at Lake Sammamish, only four hours apart. Neither would reach the end of that day.
Those are only his victims from the state of Washington during the year 1974. There were another ten women from the state of Utah, between 1974 and 1975. Nancy Wilcox. Melissa Anne Smith. Laura Ann Aime. Carol DaRonch. Debra Jean Kent. Caryn Eileen Campbell. Julie Lyle Cunningham. Denise Lynn Oliverson. Lynette Dawn Culver. Susan Curtis. He was then arrested in 1975. That should have been the end. The last time, he ended a bright young life early.
But it wasn’t. Most staff were off for the Christmas holidays of December 1977. The incarcerated assailant was executing an escape. After fleeing custody, he had the opportunity to snatch away the lives of three more women and girls. Maiming two others. In the early hours of January 15th 1978, he invaded the Chi Omega sorority house at Florida State University. Inside he bludgeoned both Karen Chandler and Kathy Kleiner. Karen and Kathy managed to survive the attack. But, both suffered heinous injuries - Karen's skull fractured and Kathy's jaw shattered. Lisa Janet Levy and Margaret Elizabeth Bowman did not survive the attack at the sorority house. During that same morning, he attacked Cheryl Thomas. Cheryl survived but sustained lasting damage, including permanent deafness in her left ear. His final confirmed victim was twelve-year-old Kimberly Dianne Leach. Kimberly was murdered about a month after the sorority members. Kimberly was last seen entering a white van with a man later identified as Bundy.
From left to right: Margaret Bowman, Debra Kent, Melissa Smith, Janice Ott and Georgann Hawkins
It is important to remember them. The souls that someone with no right to do so took. Their futures' taken in an instant. Their names so often left out of the narrative spun by true crime enthusiasts. Enthusiasts whose narratives often inject murderers with an air of grandiose. Heartthrob Zac Efron was cast as Bundy in the 2019 thriller Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. During 2019, the director also released a documentary series Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes. Supporters of the film will tell you that this casting is accurate. That Bundy was a charming and attractive man. That the movie was attempting to produce an honest portrayal... I suppose it makes you wonder: how attractive, how charming, was this man? This man felt so unhappy in his existence that he felt could (and did) end the existence of at least twenty women. If we’re being honest, he was painfully average - not stunning, not jarringly hideous, but... another average Joe.
This is one of the central themes within the novel. How the media can make a mythical figure out of someone so average. The book title itself is a play on what the judge of Bundy’s 1979 trial, Edward Cowart, said to Bundy after his sentencing:
“Take care of yourself, young man. I say that to you sincerely; take care of yourself. It is an utter tragedy for this court to see such a total waste of humanity, I think, as I’ve experienced in this courtroom. You’re a bright young man. You’d have made a good lawyer and I would have loved to have you practice in front of me, but you went another way, partner.”
Knoll pulls none of her punches. She uses each chapter to reinforce how warped and inverted Edward Cowart’s assessment is. Judge Lambert parrots Cowart's words as he presides over the trial for the novel's defendant. Knoll leaves no room for doubt. Her story is about the bright young women that life was unfair to, that were victims of Bundy's inhumanity. Not about Bundy, the pathetic monster.
Tense and emotional. This book is a reminder of the countless ways that women experience violation, patronisation, brutalisation, and not having a voice. It is not a story detached from reality. Women who read this novel will be all too familiar with the subtle misogyny at play amongst the larger acts of violence. For example, the way Pamela’s boyfriend speaks over her on topics she knows more about. Or, how serious assaults against female characters are actually ‘some boy troubles.’ [Page 148]. How the female characters' romantic relationships are subject to scrutiny, as though they are the only indication of their character. The list goes on. Bright Young Women features many moving cogs that all work to construct a gripping portrayal of the threats that women have faced, and currently face in their lives.
Knoll never lets you forget the many ways these women affected those around them. The immeasurable grief left in their wake. Do not not allow these names to fade into obscurity.
In memory of Karen, Lynda, Donna, Susan, Roberta, Brenda, Georgann, Janice and Denise. For the lives of Nancy, Melissa, Laura, Carol, Debra, Caryn, Julie, Denise, Lynette, and Susan. And for Margaret, Lisa, Karen, Kathy, Cheryl and Kimberly.
For all the stolen bright young women.
