It is 1962 and America's greatest sex symbol is ahead of her time. Within the pages of a secret diary she names Red, Marilyn Monroe scribbles her hopes, dreams, and fears, inspired by her aspiration to one day motivate a young person to become something bigger than they ever imagined.

Marilyn begins on January 1 by divulging she has officially given up eating mammals. As she pens her feelings and experiences for the next seven months, the thirty-six-year-old actress shares impressions of dogs and bike rides, memories of married life with DiMaggio and Miller, and reveries of a future with Dreamboat. As she attempts to distinguish friends from enemies while preparing for her last film, Marilyn details her rehearsals for the Happy Birthday performance for JFK's Madison Square Garden celebration, worries about her mother's health, and battles for a million-dollar deal with Twentieth Century Fox. But as Marilyn makes plans to free herself from those she cannot trust, she never imagines what will happen next.

Dear Red shares the fictionalized diary of the brilliantly funny and hardworking artist, Marilyn Monroe, as she lives again, if only to reveal an emotional truth about her death.