Bright Young Things »

Anna Godbersen was born in Berkeley, California, and educated at Barnard College. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York, where she is at work on the sequel to Bright Young Things.

The year is 1929. New York is ruled by the Bright Young Things: flappers and socialites seeking thrills and chasing dreams in the anything-goes era of the Roaring Twenties.

Letty Larkspur and Cordelia Grey escaped their small Midwestern town for New York's glittering metropolis. All Letty wants is to see her name in lights, but she quickly discovers Manhattan is filled with pretty girls who will do anything to be a star. . . .

Cordelia is searching for the father she's never known, a man as infamous for his wild parties as he is for his shadowy schemes. Overnight, she enters a world more thrilling and glamorous than she ever could have imagined and more dangerous. It's a life anyone would kill for . . . and someone will.

The only person Cordelia can trust is Astrid Donal, a flapper who seems to have it all: money, looks, and the love of Cordelia's brother, Charlie. But Astrid's perfect veneer hides a score of family secrets.

Across the vast lawns of Long Island, in the illicit speakeasies of Manhattan, and on the blindingly lit stages of Broadway, the three girls' fortunes will rise and fall together and apart. From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Luxe comes an epic new series set in the dizzying last summer of the Jazz Age.

Publishers Weekly

Godbersen (the Luxe series) proves that some things--namely the allure of cities, fame, and a good time--never change, melding drama and a lush historical setting in this series launch, set in 1929. Cordelia and Letty were meant for more than Union, Ohio, will ever offer, so they run away to Manhattan--just hours after Cordelia's wedding. Cordelia hopes to reunite with her famous and wealthy father, bootlegger Darius Grey, and Letty dreams of stardom. Shortly after arriving, the two best friends have a falling out; Letty becomes a cigarette girl at a famed Manhattan speakeasy, while Cordelia finds her way to her father's mansion, where she meets society girl Astrid, who is dating Cordelia's half-brother, Charlie. Handsome men and romantic intrigue abound as these flappers party their way through society, even as inevitable falls loom ahead. Godbersen excels at dialogue--especially Cordelia, Letty, and Astrid's coyly flirtatious responses to suitors--and in capturing the mixture of exhilaration, innocence, and guts that propels them into their new lives. Ages 14 up. (Oct.)