10 Questions with Fanny Britt
Fanny Britt, photo by Justine Latour
I first encountered the work of acclaimed novelist, playwright, and translator Fanny Britt in the form of her Governor General award-winning graphic novel Jane, le renard et moi (Pasteque, 2012), her first collaboration with illustrator Isabelle Arsenault. That book was translated into around fifteen languages , including the English edition, translated by Susan Ouriou and Christelle Morelli and released as Jane, the fox, and me by Groundwood Books. In addition to winning numerous prizes, it was ranked among the ten best illustrated books of 2013 by the New York Times.
Having loved that book so much, I immediately sought out the two other much-celebrated collaborations between Britt and Arsenault, Louis Undercover and Forever Truffle.
Because I was already such a fan of Fanny’s work, I jumped at the chance to read an advanced copy of Sugaring Off, out this week from Book*Hug Press. (The original French text, Faire les sucres, was publish in 2020 by Le Cheval d’auout).
While I was reasonably certain I would like the book, but I had no idea how strongly it would affect me. It’s one of those rare, remarkable stories that haunts you long after you put it down.
Sugaring Off is a complex story populated by nuanced characters undergoing profound moments of emotional rupture. It depict and dissects the toxic culture of celebrity chefs and food television, the fraught relationship between locals and vacationers on Nantucket and Cap Cod, and the process of “sugaring off.” It looks at the fraught dynamics of parenting teenagers and young adults, the logistics of infidelity, and the crushing effects of being forced to play a role within a marriage or family, even if we have been complicit in establishing those roles. It’s also, as fellow Book*hug Press author Lindsay Zier-Vogel has noted, “A stunning exploration of class and privilege, and our desperate need for connection.” If that sounds like an awful lot to weave together in 209 pages, it is! And yet, Britt does so with elegance and efficiency.
I was so excited to have the opportunity to talk to Fanny about the experience of writing Sugaring Off, as well as to ask her nosey questions about her work and life more generally.
1. Were you a bookish child? Were there any particular books that left a mark on you when you were young?
I was a very bookish child: shy, introverted, always more at ease with fictional characters than people in real life. I was a huge fan of Judy Blume, and keep a particularly vivid impression of Are you there God? It's me, Margaret, and Deenie. And of course, I was the biggest Anne of Green Gables groupie.
2. Sugaring Off follows two separate casts of characters whose lives quiet literally collide at the beginning of the book. One of the motifs that link the two halves of the narrative is that of boiling sugar; in Martha’s Vinyard, Celia’s family has worked relentlessly to keep their taffy business afloat, while in Quebec, Adam tries to fill the chasm that has opened within him by purchasing a struggling sugar maple stand. I’m wondering about the inspiration for this thread, and how you think about the role it plays in the story.
I thought about sugar and sweetness as an expression of pleasure, of useless or purposeless joy, and how different people view pleasure, whether they feel entitled to it, like Adam, have to work for it, like Celia, or even try to reverse its ill effects, like Marion in her work as a dentist. My father is a dentist, and I was the worst, cavity-ridden child ever, and also a sugar freak. It always struck me as funny that my dad's work was to basically undo the harm I was doing by eating sweets, and this thought made its way into the background of this story.
3. Half of your story is set in Quebec, and the other half in Martha’s Vineyard. I’m wondering how you came to decide on these two locals, which you juxtapose with such power and nuance.
The Montreal location felt very natural, as it is my hometown and the backdrop for most of my books and plays. The Martha's Vineyard location came to me after I visited the island in 2016 and was struck by the very apparent inequalities between the tourist population, the Summer people and the local residents. Since I wanted to tackle themes of entitlement, cultural naïveté and self-awareness (or lack thereof), it seemed like the perfect location.
Martha's Vineyard, photo by Fanny Britt
4. This is a book that compels readers to consider the role they play in perpetuating the systems of power and privilege in which we are all enmeshed. At the same time, the accident that serves as the catalyst for the events of the novel, is just that— an accident. There is no clean or easy answer to the question of who is to blame for the unhappiness the characters experience, and why. Can you talk a little bit how you constructed the messy mix of individual failings, societal structures, family dynamics, and accidents of fate that reveal aspects of these characters’ inner lives and relationships.
You are exactly right: the accident is just an accident, and this was always important to me. I wanted to explore how random events affect people differently depending on their circumstances, and to do so, I tried to build a story as a succession of encounters, which would reveal how different characters view the world and what they expect from it. Meeting patients, family or choir members, attending a Christmas party, dealing with your mother's rich boyfriend, even taking a plumber to Marion's tenant's apartment is a way to shed a little more light on each character's inner world.
5. In addition to being a writer, you are also a translator yourself. What is it like to experience that process from both sides?
I love it! It might be exhausting for Susan (I hope not!) because I can be very hands-on with the English versions of my books and plays (I don't know any other languages apart from English and French, unfortunately), but it is also fascinating to see what words can unearth from the story in another language.
6. What’s your favorite hour of the day for writing?
Mornings. I have a very hard time writing "new things" (not revising or editing) after noon!
7. I’m very nosey when it comes to other people’s workspaces. Can you describe yours, if you have one? If you don’t have a dedicated space, where do you like to work?
I have an office at home, which is always quite a mess! It also serves as a landing space for sewing supplies, my kids school supplies and the overflow of books from the rest of the house! But I am grateful to have a space, and I think I would be intimidated by a pristine space.
8. What are your current obsessions? They can be literary, or not.
Quilting is my most recent obsession. My mother taught me the basics, and now I dive into quilting projects anytime I need to get out of my head and make something tangible. I'm not very good, but I'm proud for all four of my finished quilts so far!
9. I’m such a fan of the beautiful graphic texts you have published with Isabelle Arsenault, particularly Jane, the Fox, and Me. Can we look forward to more graphic stories from you in the future?
I hope so! Isabelle is very much in demand, and many theater and translation projects also fill my schedule, but I'm sure we have other graphic novels somewhere in our future. We are also working on an animated version of Forever Truffle, our third book, which should be fun!
10. If you could invite any 5 writers to a fantasy dinner party, who would they be, what would you eat, and what would the playlist include?
Virginia Woolf, Charlotte and Anne Brontë (I know Emily wouldn't want to go through that!), Leonard Cohen and Toni Morrison. I would be entirely tongue-tied all night, so I would stick to cooking and serving, probably some Cacio e Pepe followed by a Saint-Honoré (I'm much better at pastry than cooking), and I would ask my sons to come up with a badass, very modern playlist (I'd have to find *something* to intimidate the guests!).
11. I thought it would be fun to ask other creators to offer a question as part of these interviews. Our final question today comes courtesy of fellow Book*Hug Press author Lindsay Zier-Vogel. She asks, “What do you do that is not writing that is essential to your writing?”
I mentioned quilting earlier, but I also do quite a bit of baking, I'm the de facto birthday cake person in my circle of friends. I like to plan elaborate, kitschy cakes that I need to engineer for days in advance, like a cake in the form of a Ramen bowl, or a prehistoric bird, or Frida Kahlo (depending on the person's interests). There is nothing more satisfying for me than to serve those cakes and watch them disappear into the mouths of people in seconds. The process is completely useless, and the result, immediate. It feels like anti-writing, to me.
Fanny's new french language YA novel, Bonjour Mon Coeur, launched last month from Chavel d'aout
