Shuggie Bain

This novel is about a young boy and his mother Agnes, who live together with Catherine and Leek, his siblings, in a tenement building in a former mining district in Glasgow in the 1980s. Agnes's partner, Hugh, is Shuggie's father. Agnes's life is dominated by alcohol. However little money there is, she spends it all on cheap beer and vodka. At the start of the novel Shuggie is five years old and not so aware of the struggles in the family. As he grows older he notices what is going on and he is increasingly concerned about his mother, whom he loves dearly. He doesn't give up hoping that one day she will stop drinking. On top of all this, Shuggie is not like most boys. He behaves differently and is being bullied because of it. In this story a laugh and a tear are never far away. The boy Shuggie will find an enduring place in your heart. Douglas Stewart won the Booker Prize 2020.