The acclaimed,bestselling author of This Could Hurt returns with her biggestboldest novel yet–an electrifyingtwistyand deeply emotional family dramaset on Manhattan’s glittering Upper East Sidethat explores the dark side of lovethe limits of loyaltyand the high cost of truth. You can have everythingand still not have enough. Cassie Quinn may only be twenty-threebut she knows a few things. One: money can’t buy happinessbut it’s certainly better to have it. Two: family matters most. Three: her younger brother Billy is not a rapist. When Billya junior at Princetonis arrested for assaulting his ex-girlfriendCassie races home to Manhattan to join forces with her big brother Nate and their parentsLawrence and Eleanor. The Quinns scramble to hire the best legal minds money can buybut Billy fits the all-too-familiar sex-offender profile–whiteathleticand privileged–that makes headlines and sways juries. MeanwhileCassie struggles to understand why Billy’s ex Diana would go this fareven if the breakup was painful. And she knows how the end of first love can destroy someone: Her own years-long affair with a powerfulcharismatic man left her shatteredand she’s only recently regained her footing. As reporters converge outside their Upper East Side landmark buildingthe Quinns gird themselves for a media-saturated trialand Cassie vows she’ll do whatever it takes to save Billy. But what if that means exposing her own darkest secrets to the world? Lightning-paced and psychologically astute as it rockets toward an explosive endingWhen We Were Bright and Beautiful is a dazzling novel that asks: who will pay the price when the truth is revealed?