Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher
Categories
Thriller / suspense fiction

BEFORE WE WERE INNOCENT

Ella Berman

A summer in Greece for three best friends ends in the unthinkable when only two return home in this new novel from Ella Berman...

Ten years ago, after a sun-soaked summer spent in Greece, best friends Bess and Joni were cleared of having any involvement in their friend Evangeline's death. But that didn't stop the media from ripping apart their teenage lives like vultures. While the girls were never convicted, Joni, ever the opportunist, capitalized on her newfound infamy to become a motivational speaker. Bess, on the other hand, resolved to make her life as small and controlled as possible so she wouldn't risk losing everything all over again. And it almost worked... Except now Joni is tangled up in a crime eerily similar to that one fateful night in Greece. And when she asks Bess to come back to LA to support her, Bess has a decision to make. Is it finally time to face up to what happened that night, exposing herself as the young woman she once was and maybe still is? And what if she doesn't like what she finds? Before We Were Innocent is a stark account of the intense friendships and mistakes of our youth, and the people and places we can't let go of. Ella Berman grew up in both London and Los Angeles and worked at Sony Music be-fore starting the clothing brand London Loves LA. Her first novel, The Comeback was a Read With Jenna book club pick for August 2020. She is currently developing the book into a film with Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) and Lola Frears for Magical Thinking Pictures.

Available products
Book Published 2023-04-04 by Berkley

Comments

This tale of how the emotional bonds forged in youth can define people's lives long afterward will resonate with many.

Before We Were Innocent takes a scenario we've seen in news reports - young women abroad, falsely accused of a horrific crime - and gives it all the nuance and empathy that the media never bothered with. Ella Berman is a master at depicting teenage friendships in both their beauty and their brutality. A haunting and dazzling page-turner, Before We Were Innocent kept me up well past midnight.

Berman's an expert at the small moment, the Austen-esque tragicomedy of unspoken human desire that compounds into something too big to name, too awful to ignore.

BEFORE WE WERE INNOCENT by Ella Berman was just announced as Reese's Book Club pick for the month of December! Read more...

[A] fascinating portrayal of the complicated friendships between teenage girls, and what happens when they grow up. Berman expertly weaves together the past and the present to create a suspenseful, spellbinding story about lies, betrayal, and what happens when the truth catches up with you. I loved it.

The past refuses to stay dead in this stunning story of friendship, memory, and guilt from master storyteller Ella Berman... It brilliantly illustrates the vulnerability and cruelty of teenage girls - and how the judgments placed on them create the perfect environment for both to flourish. It brought me right back to my teenage years and cracked my heart open. A profound exploration of loyalty and betrayal, Before We Were Innocent is a perfect book.

With evocative and astute prose, Berman's sophomore effort (after The Comeback, 2020) is a slow but searing portrayal of the intoxicating power of privilege, youth, and female friendship.

UK: House of Zeus