Bright Young Things - Anna Godbersen (blog tour)

Young Adult
Pages: 400
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: October 12, 2010

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.

This was a delightful story to read. Anna Godbersen's writing is poetic and rich, letting the story flow from different perspectives in a carefully descriptive, dreamy way. Set in 1929, during Prohibition, this story will illustrate vividly a historical period marked by parties and glamour. The writing was incredibly atmospheric, I felt myself transported back in time, becoming a part of Cordelia and Letty's adventure.

I did feel sometimes that the story was heavy in details, letting the pace slow down for a bit, but it picked up rather fast as the secrets blossomed and the scandals grew. You can sense the tense feeling of the climax coming, but what happened shocked me nonetheless.

The reader can truly relate to the well-done female characters. The three girls were regular girls who just happen to live in that time. Godbersen switches swiftly from one girl to the other, allowing us to view the historical period through various points of view. The male characters though, were easily forgettable. Every time a boy's name came up, I couldn't help but feel I was lost. Yet, it clicked after reading a bit more. Grady, Thom, Luke, Charlie, Darius, Duluth, Glenn? and what's the name of the husband in the first chapter? Anyhow... You get the idea.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book and cannot wait for the next one, where I'm sure I will have remembered and placed all the male names. If you enjoy ridiculously well-written novels with a creative and fresh story to tell, go get Bright Young Things right now.

**Check out my exclusive interview with Anna here!

Goodreads / Amazon

Anna Godbersen Interview (blog tour)

As a part of Teen Book Scene's blog tour for Bright Young Things, I interviewed Anna Godbersen, the brilliant author of this novel and New York Times Bestselling author of The Luxe series. She is also one of the favorite authors from the picks for the YAHF Challenge. Her books are set in late 1800 (The Luxe) and 1929 (Bright Young Things).

How do you relate to the story in Bright Young Things?

Well, I moved to New York at eighteen, and though I was hardly a runaway or an orphan, I think I came dreaming big dreams, in search of something glittery and wild that I had only yet imagined. And the friendship between Letty and Cordelia is close to my heart.

What was your research process like?
I try to read a lot of histories and magazines from the time. I’m not a purist, and I don’t worry about getting every little thing right. But I am really curious about these periods, what it felt like to live then, how the rules were different. I want readers to be transported with me, so I try to read as much as possible of whatever relevant books I can get my hands on.

If you could pick, would you rather live during the 1920s or during the late 1800s and why?
1920s for sure. The reality for women was just much better—they had many more freedoms of movement, of career, of lifestyle. Plus, the culture was just so much zippier and fun, and the clothes so much less constricting.

Why do you write YA?
Originally I got a gig ghostwriting YA, and then I discovered that I really enjoyed it. When I write for teenagers, I am writing for and about people who have their whole lives ahead of them, and that’s so thrilling. Plus, all the big emotions and events of teenage life—first loves, first experiences, hating and loving your family at the same time, wanting to escape, and being both naïve and curious about the world—these are all issues or states of being that are still raw for me, still important to me, and have so much to do with the so-called adult I’ve become. So it’s quite a privilege to be able to keep returning to the YA world.

Is there any question you’ve always wanted to be asked but never have been?
Hmmm… nobody’s ever asked me a really specific question about a sentence or a scene—like why such and such a word, or, did you experience something like what happened to Diana in whatever chapter? No one has ever asked me if I’ve ever borrowed any lines from real boyfriends, either, which in fact I have, though I’m not sure I’m prepared to answer the question honestly!