ACHUKA Book of the Day 11 Mar 2021
Sunday Times Children’s Book of the Week 7 Mar 2021
‘After a lifetime of admiration as an editor, it is an especial thrill for me and David Fickling Books to be publishing the wonderful Anne Fine. She is one of our wisest, funniest, most loved writers. Shades of Scarlet is as readable and enlightening as ever, and I dare say readers young and old will crack a smile of deep recognition too. I did.’ David Fickling
“Fine is an old hand at describing different variations of family mayhem, and this novel is well up to her past high standards. The blackly comic mind-games played between Scarlet and her mother, each determined to have the last word, are truly something to behold. Sub-plots involving a best friend, a baby and a potential boyfriend offer temporary respite from their epic battles, but ultimately this is a story about mother and daughter fighting it out each in their own way as one climactic row follows hard on the next. Sometimes exhausting but more often exhilarating, this is a brilliant as well as a timely novel.” Nick Tucker 5-Star BfK review
“As an exploration of relationships—of children, parents and new partners, friends and siblings—this rite-of-passage story is compelling, entertaining, insightful and kind.” Nicolette Jones, Sunday Times
When Mum gives her the notebook, Scarlet should be happy. It’s beautiful, with its shiny scarlet cover and its blank pages full of promise. But Scarlet is absolutely not in the mood for a peace offering. Does Mum really think she can tear their family apart and expect Scarlet to be happy about it? And it’s Dad’s fault too. Why didn’t he fight to keep them all together? Now Scarlet has to start a new life, and none of it was her choice. Scarlet decides there’s only one thing she can write in the notebook. The truth, about everything…