Karen's Reviews > Anna Bright Is Hiding Something

ANNA BRIGHT IS HIDING SOMETHING
BY: SUSIE ORMAN SCHNALL

I have absolutely loved Susie Orman Schnall's two former historical fiction novels, called "The Subway Girls," and "We Came Here to Shine." I would highly recommend these two to historical novels to fans of historical fiction. They're both five star reading experiences for me. "The Subway Girls," took place in 1949, and 70 years later. "We Came Here to Shine," is about the 1939 New York City's World Fair In that vein I've been anxiously anticipating for years when Susie Orman Schnall would write her next novel as she had become one of my favorite authors. So I jumped at the chance to read her newest novel thinking that I would get the same reading high as I got after reading her historical novels.

In Susie Orman Schnall's latest novel called, "Anna Bright Is Hiding Something," I wasn't as impressed which the blame probably lies with me because I did have an instinctual aha moment when I read the synopsis and it's category was "Humor and Satire." I do think that this reminded me of the Elizabeth Holmes story who was the CEO of Theranos which was all too real and kind of scary if you value your healthcare. Elizabeth Holmes is now in prison after a journalist from the reputable Wall Street Journal exposed her company to have been fraudulent.

Elizabeth Holmes only took two classes of Chemical Engineering and dropped out of Stanford University and used her tuition money to start her company called Theranos. Many who have already heard about this scheme which basically promised that it could run from 100 to 240 diagnostic tests using a pinprick of blood versus the one vial of blood that it takes to run a medical diagnostic test that is the standard practice of screening. It also, brought to mind Bernie Madoff's infamous Ponzi Scheme who owed 68 billion dollars to those 4,800 victims and charities who gave him their money to invest. He got away with it for years paying the highest returns on investments out of the money he was given by new investors.

This latest novel is about Anna Bright who is the Female Founder and CEO to her Silicon Valley company called, BrightLife that is on the cusp of planning to launch its IPO (initial public offering). Anna is in NYC for Vanity Fair's annual Female Founder Conference where she meets Jamie Roman who works for an online publication called BusinessBerry. Jamie wouldn't normally have been given the task but her boss Veronica who is the founder of the publication they work at had gotten sick from eating a bad clam. Anna was there as one of the guests who talked about her company's latest round of funding over the breakfast brunch. Her company is believed to be getting ready to offer this eye implant called, BrightSpot complete with a biosensor and computer chip that can do all kinds of amazing things only it's also fraudulent. Only nobody knows that yet. Not her Board members, Investors or the media. While at the conference both women are impressed by each other. Anna happened to be ranting and raving unaware that her microphone was still on. It was Jamie who like Superwoman flew to Anna's side and removed her microphone which impressed not only Anna but the guests in the crowd who filmed the scene with a video that went viral. This led Anna to invite Jamie aboard Anna Bright's private jet with over the top amenities that are laughable for an exclusive interview. This private jet owned by Anna practically offers the best of everything you could imagine--if you can think of anything that you would like while flying you only have to ask and your wish is granted. Jamie Roman who is as hardworking and ambitious as Anna didn't end up getting her interview as they flew from New York City to San Francisco. Jamie who was promised by Anna to give her an interview didn't end up getting it. Anna claimed that she has a headache and sleeps during most of the flight So Jamie didn't get her assignment done and feels frustrated that she made the trip for nothing.

When Jamie is about to book her return flight home she gets a phone call from Ian who works for Anna saying that she'll do the interview on Monday. Jamie agrees to stay and tours Stanford among other things. She was entertained by Ian during the flight from her home in New York City to San Francisco. While Jamie is waiting to interview Anna on Monday over the weekend she learns from a few other women in the know of Anna's misconduct and fraud and wants to use this information by exposing Anna's misconduct so that she can make a name for herself. When Anna learns of what Jamie is up to she will do anything in her power to stop her.

I thought that this overall might appeal to readers who enjoy satire infused plots, but I found it to mirror Elizabeth Holmes's scandal with Theranos too closely. I found the formatting of this to be poorly done therefore making it distracting to read. I hope that this is fixed with a good editor before the publication date. While I have loved this author's above two prior novels much more, I did like this latest achievement by her. In summary this was a quick read that I would still recommend as women's fiction that entertains and even though at times I found the storytelling over the top it did garner some laughable moments throughout.

Publication Date: June 4, 2024

Thank you to Net Galley, Susie Orman Schnall and SparkPress for generously providing me with my eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

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