Amanda Brown is an American author who is best known for the novel Legally Blonde. The book was the basis of the 2001 film Legally Blonde which starred Reese Witherspoon, and its 2003 sequel Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde.
Born to parents who were both successful lawyers, Amanda Brown graduated from Arizona State University in 1993. From 1993 to 1995 she attended Stanford Law School, where she compiled funny letters and stories based on her experiences into a first manuscript that would become Legally Blonde.
Brown, who left the Law School after two years, says she’s glad she went.
"It helped me decide what I wanted to do: write. I had plenty of time to watch people and write letters. I was just writing letters to my friends to kind of amuse myself. By the end of my first semester, I had like 300 pages."
Her main character, the blonde Elle Woods, succeeds in Stanford Law School, but not in the way she expected. The manuscript of Legally Blonde was so good that MGM bought it.
After the success of the 2001 movie, she released her second book, Family Trust (2003). Because of the success of the movie Legally Blonde, Family Trust received prepublication hype, and reviews were mixed. The novel introduces Becca Reinhart, a Wall Street workaholic, and Edward Kirkland, a swinging bachelor who represents his wealthy family at social and charity events. They forgo their busy single lives to be parents.
In 2007, Brown co-authored with Janice Weber the novel School of Fortune, the story about a rich heiress who decides to not go through with her wedding when she gets to the alter.
Currently, Amanda Brown lives with her husband and daughters in San Francisco.
