Book Review: Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

RACHEL SOO THOW - 20 DEC 2021

“Her body hung off the side of the bed, and by the odd angle Shuggie could tell the drink had spun her all night like a Catherine wheel. He turned her head to the side to stop her choking on her rising boak. Then he placed the mop bucket near the bed and gently unzipped the back of her cream dress and loosened the clasp on her bra. He would have taken off her shoes, but she wasn’t wearing any, and her legs were white and stark-looking without the usual black stockings. There were new bruises on her pale thighs.

Shuggie arranged three tea mugs: one with tap water to dry the cracks in her throat, one with milk to line her sour stomach, and the third with a mixture of the flat leftovers of Special Brew and stout that he had gathered from around the house and frothed together with a fork. He knew this was the one she would reach for first, the one that would stop the crying in her bones.” (pg. 198)

There’s no way to fake all the emotions that I’ve gone through with this one – from sadness, anger, depression to frustration, this heartbreaking novel enlists multiple themes that draw on poverty, abuse and addiction. Stuart’s debut is a frightening exploration into the complex relationships between Shuggie and his substance-abusing mother Agnes. It’s a blistering expose on reality and the limits of one’s love – with each page, I am continually wondering whether Shuggie’s childhood will improve, whether Agnes will break free from alcoholism and whether Shuggie’s battle with not conforming to the Glaswegian sense of masculinity will subside. As poverty and addiction in 1980’s Scotland climbs, the industrial carnage is prevalent and brings to light a society battling with poverty, drugs, alcohol, male dominance, violence, despair and prostitution. 

The male gaze is heavily demonstrated in this novel and serves as an attempt to highlight the booze-soaked brutality of a supposed wheedling and charming man. 

"She could feel the blood of her scalp on her fingers. Her ears were ringing from the 'bump, thump, bump of each stair. The numbness of the drink was leaving her.

"Why did you do that?"

"You were making a show of me."

Stuart has successfully highlighted the harsh reality of politics and it’s effect on those in the lower classes; through the instigation of Thatcher’s policies and the privatization of the nationalized sector, it’s not hard to see the effect such policies have in contributing to the destruction of families and childhood.

This heartbreaking piece of literature is admirable in its gritty prose. Rich in adjectives and heavy-handed in its emotion, Douglas Stuart has produced a novel of rare and inexcusable beauty and one that I believe everyone needs to read.

“The sound of nothing had been a trick. The hiss of silence was only the thick gas carrying her away. After that, he’d learned not to trust the quiet.”

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