Julie C Gardner

Letters for Scarlet Julie C Gardner

2019 Readers' Favorite Gold Medal Book Award Winner

What would you do if you received a letter from your past self? Sweet Corie and fiery Scarlet were best friends. Inseparable. Sisters of the heart. Until that one life-changing night they both wish they could take back...

Twenty-eight-year old Corie Harper embarks on an emotional journey after receiving a letter to herself she forgot she wrote. Although she spent a decade hiding her secrets, each page reminds her of the friendship she lost with her best friend, Scarlet, when her now-husband, Tucker, got between them.

Scarlet, who hasn't seen Corie since, blazed her own path and left the past far behind. Or so she thinks. Pregnant with a baby she's scared to have, Scarlet must decide if she wants to continue alone or find the courage to mend her broken friendship.

Can these former best friends overcome the betrayal that changed their lives?

"An engaging, not-to-miss debut with characters that stayed with me long after I finished reading." - Robin Bielman, USA Today bestselling author

"This fine debut novel convincingly explores the ties of love and friendship at the breaking point." - L. Gott, The Fictional 100

#1 Amazon Best-Selling Author

Book club discussion guide included.

Interview with the AuthorWhat was your inspiration to write Letters for Scarlet?

When I was teaching high school English, my seniors wrote letters to themselves, which I saved and sent to them five years after graduation. I imagined the impact of a tragedy happening in that time span and increased the period to ten years so the characters could be older and more established in their lives.

There are lots of great women's fiction books to choose from these days! What makes Letters for Scarlet fresh?

I switch between two narrators, one in first-person-present and the other in third-person-past, to show their lives from different points of view-both their strengths and flaws. Personally, I don't like characters who are all hero or all villain.

The story focuses on friendship, or rather, a loss of friendship between two former high school friends. What can you say about their relationship?

As teenagers, Scarlet and Corie were incredibly close and thought they would be best friends forever. "Sisters of the heart" if you will. But with that closeness came underlying jealousy and competition that carried into their adult lives. Tragedy and betrayal exacerbated these messy emotions and left holes they're both still trying to fill.

Do you have any more books planned?

Yes! Although there is a sense of closure at the end of Letters for Scarlet, I left the door open to explore the characters' futures, together or separately. I also wrote Guest List, a prequel novella that takes readers on a journey of events leading up to Corie and Scarlet's high school reunion.

What do you enjoy reading?

Primarily, I love women's fiction, literary fiction, and memoir. But any time spent reading is a good time!

Thanks for reading!