Gretchen

Gretchen is a character in the Once Upon a Time novel, "Red's Untold Tale". She was a tavern girl who provided Red with some hope regarding her future.

Before the Curse
Red encounters Gretchen in the tavern where she works, and takes note of how kind and reserved she is. This makes her feel better about something Granny told her - about how if she goes down the path of being a slut, she'll end up some lowdown tavern girl - and she figures that, even if her grandmother is right, maybe her life won't be so bad anyway.