Winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction, Sugaring Off probes intimacy, denial, and how we are tied to others—whether those we love or 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 the resulting friction between pleasure and consequence.
Praise for Sugaring Off
“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 French-Language Fiction Jury Citation
“A moving tale of human experience heralding social change.” —Le Devoir
“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. She dares to surface the lines of accident and fate that pulse between us—when it is a stranger and not an intimate who leads us back to ourselves. 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