Five Little Bitches

by Teresa McWhirter

Fiction. FIVE LITTLE BITCHES chronicles the intertwining lives of five young women, each of whom is plagued by her own unique demons, and all of whom are devoted to music, the punk-rock lifestyle, and an underground code of solidarity. The novel details each of the girls' personal histories alongside the rise and fall of their band, Wet Leather. As the band progresses, the girls tour Canadian, American and European small towns and big cities, and all the alleys, gutters, back stages, vans, hotel rooms, highways and airways in between. At its heart, FIVE LITTLE BITCHES asks whether alternative music and youth culture can be an effective mode of subversion and empowerment.

"One glance at this book and you It ain't Anne Tyler... FIVE LITTLE BITCHES is funny, outrageous, and startlingly authentic... and she delivers what any reader wants—a novel that is vibrantly alive, never dull."— Prairie Fire

"a raw, punk energy courses through its veins."— Georgia Straight

"...it captures the essence of a sub-culture... The design of the text is as bold as its uncensored language. Every page is coloured with the chaos of punk rock shows, volatile relationships, pain, joy and humour—and illustrated with gritty black lines, graffiti art, band posters, set lists and photos... These are flawed, real women who are unapologetic. But as much as the characters of FIVE LITTLE BITCHES appear hell-bent on being abrasive, this thoroughly modern feminist novel ultimately succeeds because it portrays human vulnerability."— BC BookWorld

296 pages, Paperback

First published May 7, 2012

About the author

After extensive travel across Canada and the US, her first novel, Some Girls Do was published by Raincoast/Polestar books (2002).Teresa McWhirter grew up in Kimberley, in the east Kootenays of interior BC. She received a BA with a double major in English and Creative Writing from the University of Victoria.

Following an assortment of jobs including teaching English in Korea, driving an ice cream truck, and scaring children at a haunted house, she published Dirtbags (Anvil Press, 2007) and YA Skank (Lorimer, 2011).

During the past few years Teresa has toured Europe and North America with punk rock bands, gathering material for her new novel Five Little Bitches (Anvil, 2012)

She lives in east Vancouver.

Reviews

[Alexis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed feelings about this one. It started off strong, but then got boring. The book starts with the stories/details about the five women and how they became punks. They then create a punk band a la L-7 and go touring all over the world. The book has a great design and is almost zine-like. However, the story just gets old and I had a hard time remembering the back story of two of the women.

The dialogue is also really weird. They use a lot of really gross slang. Some parts of it were amusing, but sometimes I had a hard time believing that ANYONE actually talked like that. There were some things I really loved about this book, including some of the East Van setting, but in other ways, it was just sort of flat.

[Jennifer Whiteford · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've liked everything I've read by Theresa McWhirter and this is no exception. Great characters, gritty situations, and a pretty damn accurate portrayal of the love/hate relationship that band members often have with each other. The ending was more optimistic than her other books, but that was okay, since she refrained from making every character miraculously turn into a whole new, better person. I had a lot of fun reading this, it reminded me how much I like novels about punk rock.

[Chloë · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much grittier than what I normally read, so that was difficult, but still I appreciate the window into the lives of these women characters, each of whom is strong in her own way. The front lines of feminism can be almost anywhere.

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another killer from my favourite Vancouver writer. Teresa McWhirter moves back and forth between profane and poetic and makes it look easy.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of a female Hardcore Logo but not as good. I think the book got stronger in the second half. I liked that it was set in Vancouver but I wished it had more music related content in it.