Shuggie Bain

SHUGGIE BAIN

by Douglas Stuart

 

Award: Booker Winner 2020

 

Nominations: Carnegie Longlist 2021, Kirkus Finalist 2020, LA Times Finalist 2020, National Book Finalist 2020, National Book Critics Circle Finalist 2020, PEN/Hemingway Finalist 2021

 

Date Read: September 11, 2021

 

Shuggie Bain is a heartbreaking novel about a child growing up in Scotland with a raging alcoholic as a mother. Shuggie’s father is long-gone and there is no one really to rescue him from the daily uncertainties an alcoholic can create, including his two siblings. Caroline has fled through marriage to South Africa. Leek was thrown out of the house in one of Agnes’ drunken rages, leaving Shuggie to care for his mother and take on tasks far above his years. In fact, Shuggie never had a childhood. All his years, his mother has come first.

 

Shuggie’s problems are exacerbated by the fact that his demeanor is effeminate, in stark contrast to the Scottish machismo that is expected and considered “the norm.” Fortunately, Shuggie is able to endure the bullying he receives at school and throughout the neighborhood, but at what cost? Shedding the burden of his mother and idiot children, all of the feelings and sadness he had to shelve for so long will come to haunt him. I hope he will be able to navigate these intense emotions without resorting to drinking. 

 

As much as it is often impossible to forgive people and give them a second chance, I became an Agnes cheerleader as she got sober, started mothering her kids, got a job and dated Eugene. The idea that someone can change and put their life in order is exactly the kind of hope I need right now. Of course, since the book opens with Shuggie living on his own at 16, the reader already knows this isn’t going to end well. But for this brief period, I am focused on something that I often don’t feel – hope. And for a very short year, Agnes lives her best life. Sober, her bitterness, depression and resentment leave her and she sparkles so bright that she becomes a magnet at her job, drivers stopping at her gas station just to have a chat.

 

Once I realized that Agnes was never going to hop on the sober wagon again, my cheerleading stood behind Shuggie and getting the fuck out of there. He is a bright, intelligent, thoughtful soul and he could do so much better on his own.

 

For a debut novel, Stuart has done outstanding work here. Even if his career is long and varied, this could be his masterpiece. His take on addiction and the impact it has on the family is intimate and heart-rending. I now consider myself a groupie.

 

As a last thought: The Scottish take on preventative dental care is astonishing. I’m not sure if pulling all your teeth and wearing dentures was unique to just this maladjusted family or a cultural phenomenon but I’m so glad to have my own God-given teeth. I’m running my tongue over them now in appreciation.

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