Bright and Tender Dark

Reviews

Like any good whodunit, Pearson seeds the story with many fertile leads (a prowling cult, an affair with a married professor), but the book’s real mystery is one that won’t be resolved in the final twist: Where do we draw the line between devotion and obsession? Pearson bursts onto the scene with gripping murder mystery fueled by the craziness internet. Through dual timelines, the mystery unfolds in unexpected ways and truly captures how crime makes us obsessive but also sheds a light on how murders affect those around it who don’t make the headlines. Pearson deftly moves between time periods and perspectives. Smart, assured, and absorbing. Character-driven and deliberately paced . . . crafted with uncommon depth. Gripping . . . Pearson’s observations—particularly about girlhood, social anxiety, and millennium-era evangelical culture—will stay with you for a long time. Pearson’s rich debut murder mystery gathers potency from its portrait of middle-aged millennial angst and Y2K-era misogyny . . . Where Pearson shines is in her palpable evocation of both decades, and her rendering of the challenges Joy and Karlie face as women. Pearson’s gift for texture and emotional resonance mark her as a talent to watch. Sensitive, aching, and far-reaching, Bright and Tender Dark explores one death and so many altered lives. Joanna Pearson is an exquisite writer. Her novel will sweep you away. Bright and Tender Dark is so propulsive that I couldn’t stop reading it, but so beautifully and perceptively observed that I wanted to slow down and linger over every sentence. There are many mysteries in this book — most obviously, there’s the decades-ago murder of a charismatic college student—but Pearson is also interested in the things we do, and don’t, know about the people closest to us, and how we are sometimes strangers to ourselves. Anyone who’s ever been obsessed by a crime story will find a facet of themselves in this wise, compelling, and gripping book. Bright and Tender Dark is a haunting and lyrical read with the pace of a whodunnit that examines true crime fandom without succumbing to the genre's temptations. Joanna Pearson masterfully intercuts between 1999 and 2019, taking us through the egos of academia, the pull of organized religion, and the possibility of miscarried justice to ask: how and when does a woman’s life become a ghost story? Narrator Mara Wilson uses an urgent and precise tone as a middle-aged millennial looks back at the murder of Karlie Richards, a North Carolina college student. Pearson uses the framework of the standard whodunit to explore a variety of colorful characters. Joy Brunner, Karlie's former roommate, finds a letter in a book that may exonerate the mentally challenged young man who is serving time for the murder. Wilson ramps up the tension as Joy investigates the crime, falling through "true-crime" Internet rabbit holes. Wilson matches Pearson's juxtaposition of Joy as a student and Joy as a middle-aged woman. Wilson also projects Joy's bittersweet nostalgia for her friendship with Karlie when the real killer is revealed. [An] intricate debut novel . . . This is a perfect choice for true-crime readers. Expand reviews