Ipswich author Virginia Betts talks about her first novel Burnt Lungs and Bitter Sweets – and the Suffolk locations that inspired it

An Ipswich author has spoken of how her home town inspired her first full length novel.

Virginia Betts fulfilled a long-term dream at the end of last year, releasing Burnt Lungs and Bitter Sweets on December 15.

The book started out as a poem inspired by a picture of a shopping trolley in the River Gipping, before evolving into a short story and, finally, a novel.

It follows the lives of four aging punks – Hoagie, Toad, Toggie and Jonesy – from their days as Sex Pistols fans in the mid-1970s to the present day.

Virginia said: “I wasn't a punk myself. I was born in 1971 and missed it by about nine years as I was a little too young. I was a child of the 1980s but I do remember the punk era and what Ipswich was like at the time.

“The book is very nostalgic, not only about the people who inspired it but the places I remember that are no longer there. However, I was also thorough, places will not feature if they weren’t around at that time.”

Many names and places inspired or taken from Ipswich dot the novel, Virginia said, including Debenhams, Solar superstore – in which the main characters commit several crimes – Fine Fair (now Primark), The Spread Eagle pub and The Golden Hind.

In addition, places referenced but not named include the underpass in St Matthew’s Street, the old Caribbean Club in Woodbridge Road and the River Gipping.

Meanwhile, the location of one of the main characters’ flats resembles Norwich Road.

Virginia said: “I wanted to have it as a setting in Ipswich and the surrounding area and to be recognisable as such, but to not name places too specifically, so people elsewhere could relate and think, ‘oh yeah, we’ve got a place like that’.”

In addition to its inspirations, Virginia described the book as a ‘local venture’, being published by Ipswich-based Urban Pigs Press.

Its launch was celebrated at Dial Lane Books, which was made possible by sponsors including Two Sisters Arts Centre, Geek Retreat Ipswich, Orwell Lady Cruises and Colourplan Printers.

Viriginia said the novel aimed to capture the essence of the town and its history, describing it as a ‘dark comedy noir’ in the vein of Trainspotting.

She warned ‘some truly terrible things happen’, despite being highly exaggerated.

One chapter sees the boys go on a trip to Amsterdam to meet the Sex Pistols, while another follows them as ageing punks during the rave scene of the 1990s, when the group are in their 30s.

Virginia said: “They’re already seeing music change and trying to change with the times. The protagonist doesn't want to let go of his roots.

“Reading it, you forget they're so young at the beginning and he goes through an incident that affects him more than he’ll admit – his maturity gets stunted.

“None of them want to grow up and don't think that's a bad thing. In this case, it throws difficulty into the past, but it also looks funny when someone with a Mohican tries to enter a rave.”

Music was a large inspiration for Burnt Lungs and Bitter Sweets, with Virginia creating a Spotify playlist to go alongside.

It features artists including Ian Dury, Blur, OutKast, David Bowie and Iggy Pop, while lyrics from songs are referenced in the novel.

As for the four main characters, Virginia said they were influenced by people she had met and stories she had heard in the past, wanting to capture the feeling, atmosphere, clothes, hair and attitudes of the time.

Having spent so long with them in her head, she said she missed them once the book was complete.

Virginia said it took her six months to write the novel, which begins and ends in 2024 before flashing back to 1976.

Virginia added: “This was my first novel, although I’ve been a writer all my life.

“I got started properly after lockdown and have been a published author since 2022, when I wrote a book of short stories.

“I am really thrilled to have written a novel. It can seem overwhelming at first but I took it one chapter at a time, eager to move forward with these characters.

“I’m immensely grateful to Dial Lane books and everyone who took part the launch. I feel really well supported and it was amazing to have so many local businesses on board.”

Burnt Lungs and Bitter Sweets can be bought on Amazon or at Dial Lane Books.

Contact Virginia via virginiabetts.com or through Instagram or X, where she goes by ginnb900.