Shuggie Bain is a powerful, beautiful first novel by Glasgow-born writer, Douglas Stuart. Winner of the 2020 Booker Prize, it’s set in working-class Glasgow in 1981, where poverty is casting a long shadow as traditional industries die.
Shuggie watches his beautiful mother, Agnes, often compared to the film star Elizabeth Taylor, struggle to hold on to her dreams, which include having her own front door.
Her violent, womanising husband abandons the family, and she and her three children end up in a dying mining town. Margaret Thatcher’s policies have led to mass unemployment, and alcohol and substance abuse are never far away.
Ground down by life, Agnes takes pride in her good looks, but becomes more dependent on booze to get through, as her older children pull away from her to try to save themselves. Her youngest, Shuggie, a lonely sweet boy, adores his mother, clutching on to the hope of a brighter future for them, but he has to cope with his own struggles. He is bullied for being effeminate, different and not fitting into this brutal world where men dominate. Agnes wants to stand by him, but her addiction means that most of the family’s meagre benefits go on drink, and she gets lost in a haze of alcohol a lot of the time, leaving her vulnerable son to face the world on his own.
As her alcoholism becomes worse, Agnes is exploited by men and even by neighbours pretending to be friends. Her eldest child, Catherine is the first to get away, escaping to South Africa, then Shuggie’s older brother leaves, telling his brother that Agnes will never change.
Both are afraid of getting sucked into a hopeless, desperate situation. Shuggie’s deep bond with his mother is heartbreaking, as her decline continues. They are left alone together and things go from bad to worse, but young Shuggie has a huge capacity for love and forgiveness.
“She was no use at maths homework, and some days you could starve rather than get a hot meal from her, but Shuggie looked at her now and understood this was where she excelled. Everyday with the make-up on and her hair done, she climbed out of her grave and held her head high. When she had disgraced herself with drink, she got up the next day, put on her best coat, and faced the world. When her belly was empty and her weans were hungry, she did her hair and let the world think otherwise.”
Shuggie Bain is a brilliant, tragic insight into a family beset by secrets, alcoholism, and sexuality against a backdrop of poverty. The author shows huge compassion in this unforgettable novel.