Shades of Scarlet by Anne Fine

January 12th 2022

What's always interested me most as an author is the way moods and emotions refract in a family; and since I adore writing tempestuous family arguments, novels for teens are, for me, the perfect stomping ground. This is a time when young people's brains are at their sharpest. The intensity of their feelings is remarkable. And the only thing most lack is that sense of proportion that only a few more years of experience can offer.

Scarlet is super-smart. But she's still at that stage where she sees all the changes in her family through the prism of her own convenience and desires. Nothing gets past her, and her clear-sightedness about her parents' failings is impressive.  But nobody's perfect, especially during the months when a family is unravelling, and growing up entails trying to understand and show forbearance for the needs and choices of others.

It's fascinating how a shift in the attitude or behaviour of one person in a family can demand compensatory shifts in others. With the sometimes unwitting input of her good friends at school, and her own deepening insight, we see Scarlet growing in judgement and maturity. And in return, both of Scarlet's parents are forced to look at their daughter with fresh, and far more respectful, eyes.

Shades of Scarlet has been nominated for the Carnegie Medal in 2022, and is out now.