Ask the Author: Heather Babcock
Answered Questions (2)
Heather Babcock
Oooh, no I haven't, but it sounds fabulous - thanks for the recommendation! I am long overdue for a visit to my favorite second-hand bookstore. ;)
Heather Babcock
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 fascinated 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 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.
In Filthy Sugar I explore this juxtaposition of glitter and grit using the characters of my protagonist Wanda and her sister Evelyn:
With a stolen cigarette dangling from her blood red lips, her voluptuous figure draped in fox fur, burlesque dancer Wanda is an homage to the glamourous yet feisty heroines of early 1930’s cinema. Evelyn, on the other hand, has her sensible shoes planted firmly in reality: dressed in a thin gingham dress, waving a copy of The New Masses magazine and ranting against the “fat cat capitalists”, Evelyn represents the social upheaval that was unfolding on the streets far outside of the movie studios. Evelyn was inspired in part by the works of Richard Wright, Henry Roth, Michael "Mike" Gold and other proletarian writers of the period. Wanda was born of the decade’s “escapist” films, music and dance: one of the most pleasurable aspects of writing and researching my novel was discovering pre-Code Hollywood films, including the Busby Berkeley musicals such as 42nd Street, Gold Diggers of 1933 and Dames, all of which I pay my respects to in the book.
In Filthy Sugar I explore this juxtaposition of glitter and grit using the characters of my protagonist Wanda and her sister Evelyn:
With a stolen cigarette dangling from her blood red lips, her voluptuous figure draped in fox fur, burlesque dancer Wanda is an homage to the glamourous yet feisty heroines of early 1930’s cinema. Evelyn, on the other hand, has her sensible shoes planted firmly in reality: dressed in a thin gingham dress, waving a copy of The New Masses magazine and ranting against the “fat cat capitalists”, Evelyn represents the social upheaval that was unfolding on the streets far outside of the movie studios. Evelyn was inspired in part by the works of Richard Wright, Henry Roth, Michael "Mike" Gold and other proletarian writers of the period. Wanda was born of the decade’s “escapist” films, music and dance: one of the most pleasurable aspects of writing and researching my novel was discovering pre-Code Hollywood films, including the Busby Berkeley musicals such as 42nd Street, Gold Diggers of 1933 and Dames, all of which I pay my respects to in the book.
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