Five Little Bitches chronicles the rise and fall of the all-woman band, Wet Leather. Each of the women is plagued by her own unique demons, but their devotion to music and the punk lifestyle keeps them pushing on. As the band progresses, they tour Canadian, American and European towns and cities—and all the alleys, gutters, back stages, vans, hotel rooms, highways and airways in between.

Part punk rock travelogue, Five Little Bitches is full-throttle grit-lit. The novel is a testimony to a generation of grrrls in revolt.

Praise for Five Little Bitches:

“One glance at this book and you know: 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)

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. After extensive travel across the Canada and the US, her first novel, Some Girls Do, was published by Raincoast/Polestar books (2002). Following an assortment of jobs, including teaching English in Korea, driving an ice cream truck, and scaring children at a haunted house, she published the novel Dirtbags (Anvil Press, 2007) and the young adult novel Skank (Lorimer, 2011). During the past few years Teresa has toured Europe and North America with punk rock bands, gathering material for Five Little Bitches. She lives in East Vancouver.

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Though the storyline is at times frenetic, 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. It’s not an inspiring tale of righteous women in the 1980s who don’t wear bras or shave their armpits. Rather, McWhirter presents women who, at times, abuse themselves and each other, and who occasionally compromise their well-being and their friendships at the promise of sex and drugs. These are flawed, real women who are unapologetic. But as much as the characters of Five Little Bitches appear hellbent on being abrasive, this thoroughly modern feminist novel ultimately succeeds because it portrays human vulnerability.

“Five Little Bitches is funny, outrageous and startlingly authentic. … [McWhirter] delivers what any reader wants — a novel that is vibrantly alive, never dull.” – Prairie Fire