Shuggie Bain Review

Shuggie Bain is set in Glasgow between 1981 and 1992 following the childhood of Shuggie, a young boy who doesn’t fit in with the expectations of how little boys ‘should be’. He speaks with the queen's English, he likes to dance and play with dolls. The overwhelming presence in his childhood though, is his mother Agnes. Agnes is a proud, beautiful and strong woman but an alcoholic. Through his childhood filled with cruelty from his peers and economic hardship can Shuggie save his mother from the disease that is collapsing both of their lives. 

This book has been sitting on my shelf for about two years. I picked it up from a book shop after hearing great things about it online but, as  always, other books caught my attention and pushed it further down the reading list. After I finally picked it up I have kicked myself for waiting so long to read it. 

I spent a lot of time trying to work out how I would describe the writing of Shuggie Bain and the words I landed on were tender and careful. Douglas Stuart has an eye for small magic. Side characters are written with depth and meaning, even when appearing in one short scene. Stuart can build beautiful images from what could be perceived as relatively mundane experiences, a passage simply about eating an apple pastry comes to mind. There is beauty and pain in this novel. It is through Stuart’s tender writing that we are taken on an emotional rollercoaster that echoes Shuggie’s childhood. There are moments of horror that will leave your heart broken and then Stuart will rebuild it just in time to shatter it all over again.

I believe the great successes of this novel is in the writing of Agnes. It would be too easy to paint her as an antagonistic force for Shuggie but that wouldn’t be writing from a basis of reality. Stuart’s novel explores how trauma and hardship can travel down generations, something clearly reflected in the relationships between Agnes’ parents, her husbands and her children.  Agnes is such a nuanced character clearly written with an immense amount of love. She cares deeply about her appearance and perception, she feels pride and vulnerability in equal measure. Her disease rips from her the things she cares for so deeply; her looks, the men in her life and most importantly her children. There is wavering strength amongst all of this that allows her small victories that we as a reader, alongside Shuggie, dig our nails into, desperate to cling onto. Her character explores the complexities of alcoholism; what it takes from her and her family, the hurt she can cause herself and others. 

Shuggie’s love for Agnes is what shines through for me. It’s not a simple love; it’s one that has to persist and fight yet it’s still there despite it all. Perhaps this is the resounding feeling I have from the novel. It is a love story between Shuggie and Agnes, a love that fights with all its might wondering if it will ever be enough to stop the pain.