FICTION

Scarlet in Blue

by Jennifer Murphy
Dutton. Mar. 2022. 384p. ed. by . ISBN 9780593183465. $27. F
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Running from HIM, Scarlet Lake has relocated and uprooted herself and her teenage daughter Blue many times. Each time they move, they draw a crayon from the box for their new names. When she spots HIM again, Scarlet rushes them to a new town, South Haven, MI. Blue does not know it, but Scarlet has a plan to rid herself of HIM and the plan includes help from local psychoanalyst Henry Williams. In South Haven, Blue, a talented pianist, takes lessons, makes friends, and lives the life of a normal teenager. Soon she realizes that Scarlet is struggling with mental health issues and begins to wonder if HIM is a real person or a delusion on her mother’s part. Rotating points of views from Blue, Scarlet, and Henry in 1968 to Blue in 2014, Murphy slowly unveils the tangled threads among them.
VERDICT While the twists at the end are not needed and somewhat spoil what comes before it, this novel from Murphy (I Love You More) is ultimately a love story between a mother and a daughter as well as an examination of how trauma shapes our lives and choices. Recommended for larger fiction collections.
Reviewed by Lynnanne Pearson , Mar 01, 2022
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