Shuggie Bain, Stuart’s first novel, won the Booker Prize. This, his second, has already garnered wide critical acclaim. Stuart unflinchingly lays bare the traumas that were commonplace in 90s Glasgow, stemming from systemic community conflict, baseless beliefs, job loss, poverty, and family dysfunction. In a voice that is pure Glaswegian, he tells the story of a sensitive, fatherless Protestant boy growing up in a housing estate in the hyper-masculine suburbs of the city. Mungo’s sweet nature endears him to all who know him (and the reader), while at the same time triggering family attempts to toughen him up. He meets Catholic James, who keeps racing pigeons, and the two make a rare connection before Mungo realises the dangers inherent in such a relationship. Then Mungo’s mother sends him on a fishing trip with two men she encounters at an AA meeting. What happens next will break your heart wide open.
Share your thoughts: What event in your life do you look back on as being a formative or coming-of-age experience? How did it change you?
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