Shuggie Bain

Title: Shuggie Bain

Author: Douglas Stuart

Genre: Literary Fiction

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WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

This book has gotten rave reviews from just about every source imaginable. The list of reviews and blurbs on Amazon is crazy long. When a book has this many people talking about it, I’m suspicious. I rarely like what “everyone” likes, and books just don’t live up to the hype. That said, I understand why this book is so loved. But, it is ridiculously depressing, which made me not love it.

From Goodreads: 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. 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. It is a blistering debut by a brilliant novelist who has a powerful and important story to tell.

So, see what I mean. Depressing. But it’s a great book. Really great. Well-written, full of heart and heartache. Shuggie is such a good kid, and his mother really wants to be there for him, but her alcoholism has such a strong hold on her. I can’t say I loved this book, but I agree with the critics about how good it is. I’m just not a “depressing book” kind of person. But if this sounds like a book you would enjoy, then read it because it really is an excellent book.