Instructions for Bringing Up Scarlett

by Annie Sanders

Alice McLean is living the life she always dreamed of: no ties, no constraints and no worries. As an only child, with her parents long gone, she's financially independent and has an undemanding job as a travel writer, working from her picturesque cottage in Gloucestershire.

Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit

356 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2011

About the author

Annie Ashworth and Meg Sanders met at ante–natal classes and bonded as they learnt the benefits of raspberry leaf tea and relaxation breathing. Neither remedy worked but a friendship was born.

Annie's background is in advertising copywriting and journalism. She cut her teeth on a great little magazine called Southside, and put in the journo donkey work at Essentials, editing knitting patterns, and the late lamented Woman's Journal. Since going freelance in 1990, she has written for several publications including the Evening Standard and Homes and Gardens, as well as editing Inspector Morse for serial in the Sunday People, without giving away whodunnit. She has three boys and has built her own house on a hill in Warwickshire. She is director of the Stratford-upon-Avon Literary Festival.

Meg comes from a book publishing background, though she started out by translating thirteen volumes of robot technology from French to English. Things got more interesting when she edited and wrote a series of activity books telling children how to cover the kitchen table in glitter and PVA glue. This was obviously before she had children of her own. After a diploma in horticulture, she edited and wrote gardening books but still can't work how to prune apple trees. She is married, has twins – a boy and a girl – and lives near Stratford upon Avon.

They started out together with a mission to save the planet from grammatical horrors and badly placed apostrophes by offering their services as website content writers. Luckily they were rescued from catatonia (after a very dull foray with a government quango report) by the commission to write a book. Trade Secrets resulted, a spin off from the cult BBC2 series of the same name, and was followed by Trade Secrets Christmas, How to Beat the System, Trade Secrets Parenting, Fat Club, Celebrity Fit Club, The Property Chain, but they definitely didn't write a Channel 4 book called Am I Good In Bed? (A title that doesn't bear an answer but the research was entertaining.)

A tedious train journey spawned the germ of an idea for a novel and the rest is literary legend...

Reviews

[Rach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Instructions For Bringing Up Scarlett captured me when I read the synopsis. I didn’t realise how much so until I had started reading it though.

The book was about two best friends lives that were so different it was madness but their friendship worked. Virginia was the level headed, settle down, marry and have kids type whereas Alice was a carefree live for the moment kind of girl, no plans to marry or have kids.

The book is wrote in a before and after type of effect. Before the tragedy and how live was mainly for Virginia and afterward with Alice and how her life is effected.

I found this a very good book, having been in some of Virginia’s situations helped me understand her a lot, I felt sad, happy and even elated at times with her. With Alice even though she had a carefree life she did really care about her friend. I can also relate to her from my carefree days.

I was shocked when I learnt what the closely guarded secret was and hoped the effects from it wouldn’t be too bad.
The book had me engrossed and I read this in no time I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Great read, very real and exceptionally written.

[Juno · Rating 2 out of 5]

to be honest I speed read this because it wasn't all that.....I don't think it's the first such story I have read. The jumping back and forth in time got on my nerves..I hate having to go back and check when a chapter is taking place . And silly things annoyed me, like the fact that Scarlett is described in the book as dark haired yet they still chose a blonde child for the book cover.not for me I'm afraid..

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a while since I read a book from Annie Sanders. I remember really enjoying Goodbye Jimmy Choo some years ago and was looking forward to reading Instructions For Bringing Up Scarlett.

I was not disappointed at all, this is a really clever story, excellently written and pulls on the old heart-strings whilst at the same time bringing a wry smile to the face.
Imagine Rosie; a successful career, lots of foreign travel, no money worries, the occasional good looking guy to hang from her arm - life is good. Rosie is godmother to Scarlett, the eleven year old daughter of her oldest and dearest friend Virginia and her husband Piers. It took many years for Scarlett to appear, at times Ginny and Piers thought that they would never become parents. Rosie enjoys being the 'fairy' godmother, the person who arrives with her arms full of presents, the person who is fun and quirky, the person who doesn't make the rules.
All that changes the day that Rosie hears the news that Virginia and Piers have been killed in a car accident. Rosie is not just Scarlett's godmother, but her legal guardian too. How on earth is she going to bring up this sad, vulnerable little girl?

The story flits back and forth, from the present day, following Rosie and Scarlett as they come to terms with their loss, as they learn about each other, as they battle Piers' Mother. Virginia's story is also told, using excerpts from her secret diary - the one that started as an open letter to Scarlett. The reader follows Virginia's battles with her Mother in Law, and her other 'battle' - the battle to become a Mother.

This is a touching story, with some difficult themes that have been managed expertly. A very readable story, loveable characters - a cracker of a read.

[Aileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book description very much reminds me of The Accidental Mother by
Rowan Coleman.
Alice is a Travel Writer she is young, free and single, she only has to
worry about herself.
Her best friend is Virginia, they have been friends since University,
Virginia is married to Piers and they have an 11 year old daughter
Scarlett. One day after being away working, Alice receives a phone call
from a Solicitor informing her Virginia and Piers have been killed in a
Car Accident, and Alice is the Official Guardian for Scarlett, she is
shocked and upset, thankfully she hasn’t missed the Funeral. Scarlet is
staying with her Grandparents, she comes to stay with Alice for 3
weeks, but does she stay forever?
There is 2 stories going on at the one time, one chapter is about Alice
then the next about Virginia and Piers how they met, there struggle for
a second child. I thought I would get all mixed up, but it has been
done in such a way it’s easy to follow, this book brought tears to my
eyes in parts, and I laughed at other parts, I have an 11 year old boy,
and I know how difficult they can be, I loved this book, I think it’s
the best book Annie and Meg have written. I would definitely recommend.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is the first book I've read by Annie Sanders but I'd definately read another. I'd imagine it's quite a difficult subject to tackle - being 'left' guardian to an 11 year old girl when you are quite happy being free and single, having fun with men, not having to worry about money and responsibilities - like a child. But that's what happens when Alice's best friend Ginny and her husband die in a car accident. Alice is pretty reluctant at first and quite happy to give as little input as possible to Scarlett's upbringing, leaving it to the grandparents but it soon becomes clear that Scarlett and Alice have issues with Granny just as Ginny did before them. It's a bit of a battlefield but with the help of friends and a new love interest Alice takes on the challenge of bringing up Scarlett with interesting results and a very interesting twist towards the end!

This book does well at getting into the heads of Alice, left a reluctant guardian; Scarlett, the devastated but feisty orphan and the grandparents felled by the death of their son. It never fails to be warm and honest, it's funny but touching and whilst itight tug at your heart strings it will also give you a giggle. Enjoy!

[Poochiness · Rating 3 out of 5]

A heartwarming holiday read. I had two quips about it though, the first being that the male love interest, Greg, wasn't fleshed out and he felt more like a character-filler rather than a character in his own right. The second quip I had was the back-and-forth (mostly in the first half of the book) between past and present, which felt a bit like a train stopping and starting constantly, trying to find it's drive. The drive picked up halfway through though and I stopped minding (or noticing?) the almost per-chapter time-changes. Besides these two complaints, the book was a nice light read, and the main female characters - Alice, Ginny, Scarlett and Judy - all worthy and interesting characters. I especially loved the development of the relationship between Alice and Scarlett, and wouldn't have minded a bit more detail in this aspect.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I can't say too much about the plot without spoiling it, but it is relatively light reading. There are some heartrending sad moments in it but also delightfully happy ones, as well as a twist which caught me completely by surprise. The chapters alternate between present day and what happened in the past which builds the background to the present day storyline. I loved it, and couldn't put it down towards the end. It certainly appealed to me as a parent, and may make godparents think about their commitment!

[Rhode PVD · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scarlette, the child, seems a much realer person and fully drawn character than the love interest does. So do all the adult female characters. As with all of the books by this team of authors, the male romantic leads are little more than cardboard cut-outs inserted for the purposes of the plot. The books are very enjoyable nonetheless because the woman in them feel real. And it's a pleasure to find chick lit for the over 30s crowd.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. Alice hears that her best friend and her husband have been killed in a car accident and she is their daughters guardian. She has to deal with her friends mother in law- who is a handful. She has no experience of children- so is on a steep learning curve and Scarlett is also understandably traumatised.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't recall reading another story co-written by two writers and as a writer it strikes me as a very hard endeavour. However, these two have created a cleverly crafted format that tells a heartbreakingly tender story about love, loss and understanding that not everything is always as it seems. This was a 3 Euro discount buy on the blind that was a nice surprise.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first Annie Sanders and must say I loved it - enjoyed the diary for Scarlett running through, found the characters very real and believable, shed a few tears and the standard of writing was high. I'm not always a fan of family/child based books, but this one was a lovely surprise.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of a slow story but it did have a twist in the tail.

[Belinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most amazing books that haunts me still

[Tricia Field · Rating 3 out of 5]

The timeline shifted a lot and it was confusing listening to the audio version of the book. I guessed the plot twist early on and did not feel the book finished well without the reveal.

[Jeanette]

another great book one that I would not have read but loved to listen to