Sugaring Off - (Literature in Translation) by Fanny Britt (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Winner of the Governor General's Literary Award for French-Language Fiction, Sugaring Off probes intimacy, denial, and how we are tied to others--whether those we love or those we exploit.

On the surface, Adam and Marion are the embodiment of success: wealthy, attractive, in love. While holidaying in Martha's Vineyard, Adam surfs into a local young woman, Celia. The accident leaves her injured and financially at risk; for Adam and Marion, it opens a fault of loneliness, rage, and desires that have too long been ignored.

Like a modern Virginia Woolf, Britt abrades the surface layer of our outward personas, delving into the complexity and contradictions of relationships. In this eviscerating critique of privilege, she asks what happens when one can no longer play a role--whether in a couple, family, or social structure--and exposes the resulting friction between pleasure and consequence.

Review Quotes

"Britt is a delight of a writer" -- Emily Weedon

"Sugaring Off is a stunning exploration of class and privilege, and our desperate need for connection. In this deftly written story, Fanny Britt explores the dissolution of relationships, regret and grief, and how we navigate the consequences of our actions. A truly exceptional novel." --Lindsay Zier-Vogel, author of Letters to Amelia

"A beautifully human novel about secret lives and chance encounters. In Sugaring Off, Fanny Britt writes with wisdom, tenderness, and razor sharpness about those moments of collision that remake a life... A novel operatic and cosmic in scale, but delivered with a visceral swiftness and sensitivity, Sugaring Off is gorgeous, profound, and never without humour." --Claudia Dey, author of Daughter

"A moving tale of human experience heralding social change." --Le Devoir

"An accurate, uncomplacent depiction of Western society and of the disparity that exists between classes and ethnicities, this brilliantly written story joins the family of great North American novels and asks one fundamental question: however privileged we may be, is it possible to live without relying on others? In this clever and lucid fresco, complex characters are confronted with crises which are not unconnected to the paradoxes inhabiting them." --Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction Jury Citation

"Britt is a delight of a writer."-- Emily Weedon

"Presents a privileged couple whose suddenly troubled path initially causes them to drift apart only to reveal themselves more fully to each other. All of which is conveyed in Fanny Britt's flights of oratory and magnificent long sentences, a troubling and accurate echo of our inner voices." --Journal de Montreal

"An accurate, uncomplacent depiction of Western society and of the disparity that exists between classes and ethnicities, this brilliantly written story joins the family of great North American novels and asks one fundamental question: however privileged we may be, is it possible to live without relying on others? In this clever and lucid fresco, complex characters are confronted with crises which are not unconnected to the paradoxes inhabiting them." --Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction Jury Citation

About the Author

SUSAN OURIOU is an award-winning literary translator (French and Spanish to English) and fiction writer. She has been a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for Translation on seven occasions, winning for her translation of Pieces of Me by Charlotte Gingras. She also translated Catherine Leroux's The Future, winner of 2024 CBC Canada Reads. Ouriou is also the author of two novels, Damselfish, and the critically acclaimed Nathan, and the editor of two anthologies, the trilingual Beyond Words: Translating the World and the bilingual Languages of Our Land: Indigenous Poems and Stories from Quebec. She lives in Calgary.

FANNY BRITT is a playwright, writer, and translator. She is the winner of multiple Governor General's Literary Awards, a Libris Award, a Joe Shuster Award, and was nominated for a Governor General's Literary Award for Children's Literature. Faires les sucres won the Governor General's Literary Award for French-language Fiction in 2021. Britt has written a dozen plays and translated more than fifteen works by many American, Canadian, British, and Irish playwrights. Born in Northern Quebec, Britt lives in Montreal.