The first published book by Scarlet Ibis James is freshly published. Here is my “Scarlet Yearnings” review of the first story.
The first time I saw a story by Scarlet Ibis James, I knew I had found a very special writer. As an editor for the ILLUMINATION publications on Medium, I promptly published it and announced my discovery in the editors’ workpace.
“Yes, we know!” they replied.
Scarlet Yearnings, launched just a few days ago, is Scarlet’s first book, a collection of her stories on the theme of love and desire. Be warned, it is not at all salacious; a few pages contain mild spice but this is above all a book aimed at the heart and nowhere else.
And she does it so very well! Each story is a carefully-polished gem.
It may be just twelve stories and an introduction in less than a hundred pages but every sentence, every word is carefully chosen for storytelling and effect.
Even then there are layers of meaning; this is the sort of book it pays to read twice – or more! – to get the full effect.
I wrote a short review for Goodreads and I aim to look at several stories in more detail over the coming few weeks.
The First Time She Met Her Father
The collection begins with a real shortie. Four hundred words, each one valuable. As a writer whose own style is long-long, I admire this short-short.
“What’s your favorite color?” he asked in a booming voice, making Trisha’s body tremble.
She giggled and looked up sideways at him through her dark curls before saying, “Red.”
This was the first time she met the person Granny said was her ‘daddy.’
Wow! What an opening. In three sentences we meet three characters, we know their relationship, we know that there is something odd about it.
There’s a tonne of backstory here and we’ve barely begun.
Right from the start, Scarlet uses the “show, don’t tell” advice. Already we are filling in the blanks Scarlet hints at.
Make no mistake here, the writer is directing us firmly and if we go too fast, we’ll miss things.
A child’s favourite colour. Just a whim, right? Like your favourite dinosaur. No, it goes way deeper.
In this story, every word is working hard. Trisha says “Red” and the reader needs to pay close attention to where Scarlet is taking us.
We see that word three more times in this story and each one is full of meaning, the final one hitting us smack in the heart and ripping it right out.
Other details tell the story. “Daddy” digs into the delicious meal his mother has carefully prepared. We can practically feel the texture, taste the spice. His focus is on the food, and not his daughter who has put her heart into decorating the table – including a red flower.
She is filled with desire to know more, to say more, to open herself up to the parent she never knew. We feel it. There is a line – written but unspoken in the choppy conversation described – that tells us exactly what is in Trisha’s heart.
Yearning. Yearning for love.
For a few brief moments, we are that little girl and we are feeling what she feels.
The colour red comes up twice more. It turns the story on its head, it demonstrates significant development, it sets the stage for Trisha’s life from that point on.
Scarlet has chosen her lead story well. After that tour de force opening, the reader is drawn in to find out what comes next.
The book is available in a variety of formats – hardback, paperback, ebook – and soon to be released on Audible as a talking book. Just follow the affiliate link below. You can even read the whole story in the “Free preview”!
Take a look, get your own first edition first book from this remarkable new author.
Britni
A longer version of this review is available on Substack.
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