Scarlet in Blue

A 2023 MICHIGAN NOTABLE BOOK

A beautiful and gripping psychological novel about a mother and daughter who, after a lifetime on the run from a dark and dangerous past, land in South Haven, a small Michigan town that may hold the key to ending their fugitive lifestyle.

For Blue Lake’s entire life, she and her mother, Scarlet, have been on the run from HIM—the man who Scarlet, a talented and enigmatic painter, insists is chasing them. But now, at fifteen years old, Blue has begun to resent the nomadic life that once seemed like an adventure, increasingly unsure what to make of the phantom pursuer she’s never seen. She only yearns to settle down in one place, to live a normal life.

When Scarlet and Blue arrive in the beachfront town of South Haven, Michigan, it seems that Blue’s wishes might finally come true. She makes a good friend, is falling in love for the first time, and has found a piano teacher who recognizes her budding talent. But even as Blue thrives, she cannot shake her worry about her mother, whose eccentricities and art are only becoming increasingly difficult to understand. Scarlet, meanwhile, has very different intentions for their stay in South Haven. It was no accident that she brought them there and, with the help of the psychoanalyst she’s sought out, Henry, she is determined to find a way to finally escape the shadow of her traumatic past, no matter the cost.

Told through the alternating voices of Blue, Scarlet, and Henry, Scarlet in Blue is a page-turning story about the ramifications of past trauma, the way art can hold our lives together, and, most of all, the enduring and complex mother-daughter relationship at its heart.

“Murphy dazzles…This novel will leave readers questioning what is real and how mental health can affect generations in kaleidoscopic ways.”- Cari Dubiel, Booklist

“I don't think I breathed from start to finish, but Scarlet in Blue was worth every breathless moment. A haunting, heart-tugging page-turner.”- Jennifer Niven, New York Times bestselling author of All The Bright Places and Holding Up The Universe