Shuggie Bain: A Novel

Ditched the book after 100 pages. Unreadable to anyone who *actually* grew up in Glasgow. Riddled with every stereotypical west of Scotland cliche in the book. Literally. The sectarian references are laid on with a trowel, the alcohol and gender stereotyping as lazy and tired as they get. Miserable, dull, a genuinely awful book.

The nature v nurture enigma once again raises its head in this novel. It’s a story about a single mother, Agnes, and her 3 children: Catherine, Leek and Shuggie. It’s 1980s Scotland under the Tory Thatcher government and its austerity and the way it treats the country as a colony. We saw this when it used Scotland as a guinea pig for the Poll Tax. Today with Boris as the Tory leader we see what the country thinks of the party with 6 MPs out of 58 in the London Parliament. The welfare life is so bleak and depressing that people turn to anything to escape the poverty and pain, usually booze. This is what Agnes does and becomes an alcoholic and all use and abuse each other in the dog fight for survival in this nightmare world. As she is drunk most of the time, Agnes is extremely vulnerable and as a result is raped several times over the years. Sometimes the ties that bind are very loose and Catherine is the first to jump ship, marry young and move to South Africa. The ties that bind Leek are tighter and he hangs on for a few more years but eventually leaves as he realizes he will only sink with his mother. The ties between Shuggie and his mother are super-glued and he stays to the bitter end. The 2 main characters are Shuggie and Agnes where their relationship is incredibly intense and wonderfully close. However you worry that the ending will be horrific and they both go down the tubes as her life is an alcoholic, green, smoky haze. She attracts other alcoholics and they all help each other downwards in a never-ending spiral of hangovers and desperation. Shuggie is the youngest and has to babysit his mother because of the state she’s in. He is brutally bullied by the other kids as he’s obviously effeminate and gay. The bullying by the adults is more subtle and sophisticated towards him. He has to grow up quickly as he knows he has to if he wants to eat. The lengths he goes to to keep his mother afloat are incredible to observe. Shuggie loves his football and through this we see a city divided on fanatical, religious lines of Catholic v Protestant. He tries desperately hard to be “normal” but realizes he can never be. You feel for him as you realize he’s fighting a losing battle. They survive by stealing the money out of their meters. Shuggie has lots of “uncles” who he knows are abusers of his mother. They come to the house with plastic bags of booze to drink and sleep with Agnes. The life is one of smoking, drinking and arguing. The author captures the life of a little boy growing up perfectly, and all the gross things one has to go through in that life. The book is very well written and the problem Stuart now has is the second “album”. Can he write a book as good as this again? This is obviously a semi-autobiographical book; can he rise to the challenge of doing another novel as good as this. I certainly hope so. I have read many Book...

The tragic story of an alcoholic who’s son tried to save her. The gory details went on and on and on...and on. And on. Did not enjoy.

Shuggie Bain is a story about a family devastated by the effects of poverty, abuse, alcoholism, and other devastating realities that came along with the Thatcher policies enacted in Glasgow in the 1980s. This was a hard book to get through; it’s subject matter often so grim and shattering that I had to step away for awhile because of how effectively it was portrayed. Well done, Stuart! Did I mention this is the author’s debut novel? Again, I say, well done! You follow the Bain family from the time that Shuggie is a young child, all the way to his teen years. Seeing the struggles as well as the brief hints of light that shine on them all, but particularly Shuggie and his mother, Agnes. Between the relationships Agnes has with the men in her life (most of which are far less than healthy) and the all too accurate portrayal of what it’s like to be the child of an alcoholic parent (is the parent the parent, or is the child the parent? Unhealthy bonds and no safe place to call home), it hits hard. This is very much a family and individual character centered story, so if that is your cup of tea then you may want to pick this one up! I’m not sure what more to say other than that this book really touched on the right places. The writing was real and it was not hard to fall deep into the world, the very true to life world that existed then and in some areas still exists today. Whilst I do believe this book is going on my “favorites of 2020” list, a few other things should be mentioned: -The dialect may take awhile to adjust to if you’re not already familiar. -Content warnings should be given for rape, physical abuse, mental abuse, substance abuse, and gambling. -Lastly, I would reiterate that this is a dark book and from personal experience would avoid reading it if you are not in a good place mentally. I was given a copy of this title from Grove Atlantic via Netgalley in return for an honest review. (And enjoyed it so much I bought myself a copy!)

I’m left emotionally exhausted as this story comes to an end. One way I rate a book is by whether or not I worry about the characters when I’m not reading it, if I find myself wondering what they’re doing while I’m at work or going about my daily business. Shuggie and his family were often on my mind and I couldn’t wait to be reunited with them in the evenings when my day was done. Being a mother myself I wanted to rescue Shuggie from his own. I could almost feel the heaviness and smell the odor of the Bain house. I wanted to get them all out of there. Now mind you, I don’t believe in violence but oh my Lord I sure wanted to outright punch more than a few of the people who were responsible for Agnes’ drinking, including her, at times. So do you see how involved I became in their lives, how concerned I was? Read this book and you will too.