What if Little Red Riding Hood had Really Lived?
Ninety years before the Brothers Grimm penned their version of “Little Red Riding Hood,” an historic, gruesome series of events shocked all of Europe. Starting in 1764, an unidentified wolf-like animal ferociously mauled dozens of peasants in the Gévaudan region of France.
Whispered rumors of unnatural creatures blended with age-old superstition to cause mass hysteria. A werewolf was blamed for the carnage. Alarmed, King Louis XV sent his best huntsmen to rid the province of the beastly scourge, but this legendary massacre had only just begun.
Scarlette, a 19-year-old seamstress who is laboring to make ends meet, lives under this dark threat. Although fearful of the nightmarish monster lurking in the surrounding forest, she remains skeptical of the supernatural gossip.
Until her Grandmother is attacked…
Based on both the traditional Grimm fairy-tale and older known French versions of “Little Red Riding Hood,” this dark young adult novel is set against the 18th century Beast of Gévaudan attacks and blends fairy-tale with Gothic romance in a modern, accessible prose style. Unique to the genre, the novel revives the fable of the girl-in-the-red-cloak with a new historical angle that blurs the line between folklore and reality.
“Juroe’s skill is evident in her writing, since the reader may often feel like s/he is reading a classic gothic romance novel, rather than something created for the modern teenaged audience.” – Dayla F. M., Seattle Post-Intelligencer Book Review
To read more about the Beast of Gévaudan check out my post on the mystery behind what the animal really was. Creepy fun!
Want to see how “Scarlette” was made, from first idea to novel? Check out my ‘What if Little Red Riding Hood was Real post.’
It’s 1962.
Audrey Hepburn’s iconic “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” gown sets the standard for the decade’s little black dress, Marilyn Monroe’s sultry rendition of “Happy Birthday” to President John F. Kennedy heats up the New York stage, and James Bond makes his first big on-screen appearance. It is a time of glamour, where martinis flow freely and socialites puff cigarettes as a symbol of class. The petticoat is on its way out and the pillbox hat is in while the birth control pill penetrates American bedrooms.
In the midst of sweeping change, one convention remains. The American Dream: A fairytale based on a white picket fence and a woman’s commitment to being a perfect housewife. Bridget Jeane, a 22-year-old New Yorker, is about to say “I do” to this idyllic domestic future. Until the night she’s almost killed in a car accident.
Waking up in a hospital room, Bridget recalls a fight and her drunken fiancé losing control of the car. In the aftermath, Bridget abandons her matrimonial future. She says goodbye to the Midtown lights and swanky nightclubs of the Big Apple. On the eve of her move, Mr. Frank Connery, a successful Madison Avenue advertising executive, asks Bridget for a date and won’t take no for an answer. Mr. Connery shakes and stirs Bridget through a cocktailed dreamscape of Manhattan’s glitzy nightlife.
But there’s a twist in the evening’s drink that she doesn’t see coming.
Inspired by the popular AMC television series “Mad Men” and garnished with themes from Ira Levin’s novel “Stepford Wives” (which was twice adapted to film), “Seeing Red” is an historical, coming-of-age novella about a young woman’s self-determination during a rapidly changing era.
“This 1960s period piece almost defies description but captures the era and unveils an ending I didn’t see coming. Surprise!”
–Melanie C. Duncan, Georgia Peach Award committee member
Want a behind the scenes look on the making of “Seeing Red” from start to finish? Have a look at my post on how watching the first season of “Mad Men” sparked me to write a novella.