May 2025 marks the 5th anniversary of Heather Babcock‘s book “Filthy Sugar”. This titillatingly titled book is, in fact, a provocative (and fictional) look at the life and times of a young woman of the 1930s let lose in a city full of colourful characters, gangsters, hoofers and burly-q queens during a time of economic depression and squashed dreams.  As the book’s promo says:

Set in the mid-1930s, Filthy Sugar tells the story of Wanda Whittle, a nineteen-year-old dreamer who models fur coats in an uptown department store, but lives in a crowded rooming house with her hard-working widowed mother and shrewd older sister, in the slums; a world where “death is always close but life is stubborn.” Bored with the daily grind and still in shock from the sudden death of her father, Wanda finds both escapism and inspiration in the celluloid fantasies of the Busby Berkeley musicals, Greta Garbo dramas, and Jean Harlow sex comedies. Strutting up and down the aisles of Blondell’s department store, Wanda fantasizes that she’s Ruby Keeler, the tap-dancing sweetheart from 42nd Street (pictured below) But Wanda wants more than to wear a glamourous woman’s coat—she wants to live inside of her flesh.

Her dreams come true after a chance encounter with the mysterious proprietor of the Apple Bottom burlesque theatre. Suddenly Wanda is thrust into a world of glitter and grit.  Descending from the roof top of the Apple Bottom theatre on a red velvet swing, Wanda Whittle morphs into a dream named Wanda Wiggles; sweeter than a strawberry sundae and tastier than a deep dish apple pie. At the Apple Bottom she meets Lili Belle, a naughty cartoon flapper brought to life, Queenie, a sultry headliner whom Wanda feels drawn to like a bee to a butterfly bush; the sweet and salty club drummer Eddie, and Brock Baxter, the Apple Bottom’s vaudevillian comic whose apple cheeked, pretty boy exterior belies his sinister intentions.
All will have an impact on Wanda’s journey. Cowardly boxers, shady coppers, dime store hoodlums, and painted ladies—Wanda will encounter them all. On her voyage from rags to riches and back again, Wanda experiences a sexual awakening and achieves personal independence as she discovers that a girl doesn’t need a lot of sugar to be sensational!  So, are you intrigued yet? Filthy Sugar is available online (Amazon & other online outlets) plus at your favourite bricks-and-mortar bookstore. I had the opportunity to chat online with the talented author and here’s what Heather shared with me….

Heather, it’s been 5 years since your book, Filthy Sugar, hit the bookstores – how has the journey been for you as an author?  Thank you! Well, it’s been quite the journey! Filthy Sugar is my debut novel and it was released in May of 2020, at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. That alone made my journey an unpredictable and unchartered one. I quickly learned to roll with the punches. There are often more lows than highs in this writing business so you’ve got to celebrate every win.

Has your publisher (Inanna Publications) been supportive and encouraging, especially during the Covid years when people were forced to find solo activities and entertainment such as reading?  Definitely! The Covid years presented challenges that were new to everyone in the publishing industry. Everything – events, book sales – that had previously been brick and mortar had to quickly be moved online. The planned book launch was held virtually and was attended by over one-hundred people; most in-person bookstores probably wouldn’t have been able to accommodate such a crowd. Word on the Street (WOTS) was also moved online that year. Renée Knapp, who was Inanna’s publicist and marketing manager at the time, was always on hand to answer any questions I had and to help ease my anxieties – and there were many of them in those early days. Looking back, an unexpected benefit to the pandemic was that because people were stuck at home, and many had more free time and even more money on their hands, they were more likely to buy books. I had many friends who marvelled at how quickly Inanna fulfilled their book order. Remember how much fun it was receiving a package in the mail during the Covid days?

The heroine of your story, Wanda, is a sassy 19yr old with dreams of dancing with Ruby Keeler and hanging out with Garbo and Harlow – her screen idols.  They say “write what you know” so is this era and the B&W films of the time you favourite personal interests?  Yes, my father introduced me to classic movies. He loved all of those great glamorous dames: Greta Garbo, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor. My favourite memories are of watching films like Roman Holiday and A Streetcar Named Desire with him. While researching Filthy Sugar, I immersed myself in the movies of pre-Code Hollywood: films that were made before the enforcement of the Production Code in July of 1934. The 1932 sex comedy Red-Headed Woman, which stars Jean Harlow (pictured below), had a big influence on my novel. I also reference it in the book as it’s one of Wanda’s favourite movies. My father passed away in 2010. I wish he was alive to read Filthy Sugar because I think he’d like it – although he probably wouldn’t approve of Wanda’s raunchier antics!

And what inspired the story…are your characters based on personal friends or perhaps the great dames of the screen – Mae West, Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Crawford?  In January of 2015, for no reason at all, or at least no reason that I can remember, I decided that I was going to read as many books written and published in the 1930s as I could. I began with Henry Roth’s 1934 novel Call It Sleep. My partner, noting my new interest in the decade, bought me a second-hand copy of Pierre Berton’s 2001 historical book The Great Depression: 1929-1939. I began to submerge myself in 1930’s history and pop culture. The ambivalence of the decade fascinates me. Although it was a time of great suffering, the 1930s produced some of the most beautiful music, films, literature, fashion & décor and visual art, all of which has had a great influence on future generations. It was also a time of important social upheaval and change: birth control, unions, workers’ rights (including the minimum wage and 40-hour work week) all came into fruition during the decade. The characters in Filthy Sugar are fictional but, like the youth of their day, they themselves are inspired by the stars and characters that they see in the movies. Wanda is obsessed with Jean Harlow and Greta Garbo and I pictured Eddie, the burlesque house’s drummer, as speaking like Jimmy Cagney.

Have you done many in-store book signings and readings? Any coming up?  Because my book was released during the pandemic, I unfortunately didn’t have the chance to do in-store book signings. However, I was able to participate in online readings and when things began to open up again in 2022, I read at the Bright Lit, Big City reading series at Hirut Cafe (pictured below) and later that year, I was invited to speak at the Vintage Film Festival in Port Hope. I spoke on the topic of “Dangerous Dames – Celebrating the Women of Pre-Code Gangster Movies”. It was an amazing experience and I got to share Filthy Sugar with like-minded movie fans. Coming up, I will be presenting “How to Write a Novel When You Don’t Have Time to Write a Novel” at the Toronto Public Library. My presentation will be at the Agincourt branch on Saturday, July 5th at 2pm. Anyone who is interested in attending can call the library at 416-396-8943 to register.

You set the story in 1930’s Toronto as opposed to New York or Chicago…..why?  The city that Filthy Sugar is set in is fictional: it could be any urban city in North America during the 1930s. This was a conscious choice to give me artistic license and freedom. Wanda’s world is Blondell’s Department Store (a fictional store named after Joan Blondell, one of my favourite actresses from the pre-Code period); the Apple Bottom burlesque theatre where she becomes a star and “the World Behind the Market”, which is what she calls the “slum” where she lives.

Has your publisher suggested an appearance and book sales during Word on the Street this fall?  As far as I know, I won’t be at the Word on the Street this fall but I did attend with my publisher in 2023. It was a lovely afternoon of book signings and catching up with friends in the literary scene, many of whom I had not seen since before the pandemic…see photo below

Is there a sequel in the works or are you working on an entirely different concept or plot for your next book?  At this time, there is no sequel in the works but you never know. I am currently working on my second novel, The Memory of Crows, which is a noir inspired tale of sibling rivalry.

So congratulations again to Heather on the past 5 years of Filthy Sugar…hopefully the book will continue to be bought or taken out of the libraries, read online or listened to via audio books. Maybe a film? Reads just like one of those fabulous movies Wanda loved.

Filthy Sugar by Heather Babcock
Inanna Publications – available in paperback, e-book and audio book from all your favourite bookstores, AppleBooks & Amazon.