Sophfronia Scott – Author of books of fiction and nonfiction

This Child of Faith

RAISING A SPIRITUAL CHILD IN A SECULAR WORLD

Tain Gregory was present in his third grade classroom on the morning of December 14, 2012, the date of the Sandy Hook shootings. As part of the healing process for the community after the tragedy Tain was asked “What’s the most important thing in the world to you?” His mother expected an answer about a video game or Pokemon trading card. Tain thinks for a moment then answers with one word. “God.”

Until that moment, Tain’s mother had no idea how close to the surface Tain’s faith existed for him. This is a fascinating look at the journey of two souls, both Tain’s and his mother’s, that began with Tain enrolling in Sunday School and led to a strong life of faith for both of them.

“Hello! I’m a writer of fiction and non-fiction. I believe in friendship, love and joy and I hope you’ll find my work engaging both on a literary level and a life level. Words can change minds and each one I write is an opportunity to do just that. Please let me know what you think–I am, after all, writing to you! This is definitely a two way conversation: inspire others as you’re inspired and we’ll all grow together.”

Sophfronia Scott is the founding director of the Alma College MFA in Creative Writing. She grew up in Lorain, Ohio, a hometown she shares with author Toni Morrison. Her father was a Mississippi-born steelworker who never learned how to read and her mother was a stay-at-home mom who always made sure there were books in the house. She holds a BA in English from Harvard and an MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Sophfronia spent a big chunk of her career as a writer and editor for Time and People magazines where she developed the uncanny ability to create order out of chaos by whittling massive amounts of facts and ideas into a single cohesive form.

MORE ABOUT SOPHFRONIA

UPCOMING EVENTS

Sophfronia speaks and presents workshops all over. Find out where she will be next.

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BOOK CLUBS

Sophfronia is happy to join your book club in person or by video conference.

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CONTACT SOPHFRONIA

Get in touch with Sophfronia for more information on her work, appearances, or just to ask a friendly question.

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Latest from the Blog

Feeling Your Best Decisions

Author Sophfronia Scott on how to make decisions from a point of strength and agency.

On Reading Journals

Author Sophfronia Scott on why reading the published journals of others can be an excellent source of comfort and community. [Date is noted incorrectly at start of the video. Should be February 7, 2025]

The Grace of Rest

Author Sophfronia Scott on the benefits of rest, and how such rest may be difficult to get for the victims of the Los Angeles wildfires.

"Telling the story of a child of a slave owner and an enslaved woman, Wild, Beautiful, and Free focuses on the individual heartbreaks of slavery and especially on the heroine, a courageous young woman who has to find her own route to becoming a free woman. It’s intensely readable—a page-turner set in a vividly described landscape."

Philippa Gregory, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"Skillfully crafted…this evocative novel brings full circle the power of love and forgiveness. A worthwhile and insightful read that lingers in the mind long after the last page is turned.”

Historical Novels Review

"Stunning in a thousand ways, this spellbinding declaration of wild and beautiful freedom burns so fearless and hot it fairly takes one’s breath away. As the mixed-race heiress of a white, slave-owning father fights to survive enslavement, the danger of escape, and the Civil War to reclaim her life’s rightful place, her fierce battle rewrites the essence of what it means to be home and free. Sophfronia Scott gets pitch perfect every word, moment, heartbreak, and victory of this young woman’s determined struggle. From start to finish, it’s a searing and stunning triumph."

Patricia Raybon, author of All That Is Secret: An Annalee Spain Mystery

"Exquisite and bold, Wild, Beautiful, and Free is a lush retelling of Jane Eyre that captures the tumult of the American Civil War and graces it with tones of the everlasting classic that will enchant both old and new readers of the story. Scott honors what makes it beloved while throwing open the doors to a new setting, a new era, always keeping readers on their toes as she balances just enough intrigue to make those familiar with it wonder what will happen next. Highly recommended!"

Camille Di Maio, bestselling author of The Memory of Us

"It has been a long time since a novel has wrapped me up like this--put the current world out of view and allowed me to sink into another one. Wild, Beautiful, and Free touches on what it means to be liberated and what it means to be human."

Mathieu Cailler, author of Heaven and Other Zip Codes

"The beauty of this book is that Sophfronia Scott and Thomas Merton's intimate conversations open outward to include anyone listening in, confident that what is deeply true about any of us is deeply true about all of us. Both Scott and Merton believe we belong to each other, and that faith frees us to speak frankly about our struggles with faith."

Barbara Brown Taylor, from the foreword

"A pleasing introduction to the thinking of Trappist monk Thomas Merton.

Publishers Weekly

"This book is a marvelous journey that teaches us how to walk into the life of another while opening up new paths into our own life. The unlikely companionship of this African American woman writer and a white Catholic monk is one that few readers of this book will ever forget."

Dr. Willie James Jennings, associate professor of theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School

"If you know Thomas Merton, you now must know Sophfronia Scott. In remarkable and marvelous ways, she invites us to complete our seeing of Merton--and also to see ourselves--by completing his humble seeing of a forgiving God."

Patricia Raybon, author of My First White Friend and I Told the Mountain to Move

"Sitting down with The Seeker and the Monk made me feel like I was overhearing a delightful conversation between two brilliant friends."

Carol Howard Merritt, pastor of Bedford Presbyterian Church and author of Healing Spiritual Wounds

"An exquisitely rendered account of the 'love affair' between an incandescent, twentieth-century flawed monk and a probing, twenty-first-century Black writer that brims with relevance and astonishing revelations. This book is a testament that if you seek, you indeed shall find."

Father Edward L. Beck, C.P., author & CNN commentator

"A compelling, imaginative book to assist the world as we grapple with issues of race, racism, belonging, faith, hope, and love."

Rev. Nancy Lynne Westfield, director, Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion

"Complicated characters, unbearable tension, heartbreak, and betrayal make Unforgivable Love an absorbing read."

Erika Robuck, bestselling author of Hemingway's Girl

“Unforgivable Love is lyrical and lush, enchanting and energetic. With botttomless empathy and loving attention to detail, Sophfronia Scott embraces a classic and makes it her own.”

Tayari Jones, author of Silver Sparrow and An American Marriage

“Scott’s wonderful, original retelling of Dangerous Liaisons takes readers deep into the lives of her characters; Mae, Val, and Elizabeth are riveting and complex. You won’t be able to stop reading this terrific, absorbing book.”

Karen E. Bender, author of Refund, Finalist for the National Book Award

“At once beautiful and ominous, visceral and ethereal, tragic and fulfilling, Unforgivable Love is a genuinely moving novel [...] Sophfronia Scott has given us a book that will last, an elegant page turner that transcends time and place.”

Bret Lott, New York Times bestselling author of Jewel

“Unforgivable Love is an exquisite, sexy, beautifully imagined novel in which Sophfronia Scott expertly recasts the intrigues and characters of Dangerous Liaisons in Harlem of the late 1940s. Both a virtuosic homage and a thrilling retelling--Unforgivable Love is a stunning accomplishment.”

Christine Sneed, author of The Virginity of Famous Men and Little Known Facts

“Unforgivable Love is an unforgettable read. Scott’s reimagining of Dangerous Liaisons into 1940’s Harlem society is nothing short of inspired, with all the spice and spite and delight of the original, and more. Nuanced, haunting, elegant, this is a book I can’t wait to read again - and then, again.”

Robin Black, author of Life Drawing

“ [...] here is this eighteenth century French tale remade into a panorama of mid-century Harlem, America--full of brilliant characters, a tale of love and lust and treachery, written with the rhythms of jazz, giving forth beautifully rendered rooms and streets and sounds [...] better than the original.”

Richard Bausch, award-winning author of Before, During, After

“Unforgivable Love is a fast-paced tale of intrigue, seduction, and betrayal. Sophfronia Scott leaves us breathless.”

Lee Martin, Pulitzer Prize Finalist author of The Bright Forever

“Scott’s novel is a vivid, vibrant, and panoramic exploration of the hearts and minds of its mostly well-heeled characters and the universal themes of love, sex, and social intrigue [...]Scott takes readers there and lets them wander and discover this exciting, historical time and place.”

Breena Clarke, author of the award-winning Oprah book club pick, River, Cross My Heart

“Imagine Dangerous Liaisons set in 1940s Harlem, amidst the nascent civil rights movement, baseball, and jazz, and you have Sophfronia Scott’s riveting novel Unforgivable Love.[...] I miss this world-and Scott’s gorgeous prose already.”

Lori Ostlund, author of After the Parade

“Unforgivable Love is vibrant, thoughtful and very sexy. It sneaks up on you and once you are under its spell, it won’t let go.”

Martha Southgate, author of The Fall of Rome

"Why do the worst people always seem to win? In this remarkable retelling of the French classic Les Liasions Dangereuses, Sophfronia Scott brings scandal, manipulation, and perverse desire to (barely) postwar America. Never have I rooted against a protagonist so fervently, all the while taking secret pleasure in the subversion of virtue. But wait. Who really wins here? Beautifully written, sumptuously atmospheric, fearless in its cultural appropriation, UNFORGIVABLE LOVE is surely the breakout book for this thrilling new voice."

Bill Roorbach, award-winning author of Life Among Giants and The Girl of the Lake

Wild, Beautiful, and Free

a novel

The Seeker and the Monk

Everyday Conversations with Thomas Merton

Love's Long Line

Unforgivable Love

This Child of Faith

RAISING A SPIRITUAL CHILD IN A SECULAR WORLD