WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD
A stunning debut novel by a masterful writer telling the
heartwrenching story of a young boy and his alcoholic mother, whose love
is only matched by her pride.
Shuggie Bain is the unforgettable story of young Hugh "Shuggie" Bain,
a sweet and lonely boy who spends his 1980s childhood in run-down public
housing in Glasgow, Scotland. Thatcher's policies have put husbands and
sons out of work, and the city's notorious drugs epidemic is waiting in
the wings.
Shuggie's mother Agnes walks a wayward path: she is Shuggie's guiding
light but a burden for him and his siblings. She dreams of a house with
its own front door while she flicks through the pages of the Freemans
catalogue, ordering a little happiness on credit, anything to brighten
up her grey life. Married to a philandering taxi-driver husband, Agnes
keeps her pride by looking good--her beehive, make-up, and pearly-white
false teeth offer a glamorous image of a Glaswegian Elizabeth Taylor.
But under the surface, Agnes finds increasing solace in drink, and she
drains away the lion's share of each week's benefits--all the family has
to live on--on cans of extra-strong lager hidden in handbags and poured
into tea mugs. Agnes's older children find their own ways to get a safe
distance from their mother, abandoning Shuggie to care for her as she
swings between alcoholic binges and sobriety. Shuggie is meanwhile
struggling to somehow become the normal boy he desperately longs to be,
but everyone has realized that he is "no right," a boy with a secret
that all but him can see. Agnes is supportive of her son, but her
addiction has the power to eclipse everyone close to her--even her
beloved Shuggie.
A heartbreaking story of addiction, sexuality, and love, Shuggie Bain
is an epic portrayal of a working-class family that is rarely seen in
fiction. Recalling the work of Édouard Louis, Alan Hollinghurst, Frank
McCourt, and Hanya Yanagihara, it is a blistering debut by a brilliant
novelist who has a powerful and important story to tell.
