Shuggie Bain: Winner of the Booker Prize 2020 

Douglas Stuart

A heartbreaking novel, a book both beautiful and brutal. . . All that grief and sadness and misery has been turned into something tough, tender and beautifully sad. ―The Times

Leaves us gutted and marvelling: Life may be short, but it takes forever. ―New York Times

Rarely does a debut novel establish its world with such sure-footedness, and Stuart's prose islithe, lyrical and full of revelatory descriptive insights.-- Alex Preston ―Observer

An astonishing portrait, drawn from life, of a society left to die . . .Shuggie Bainhas been longlisted for the Booker Prize. In a just world, it would win.―Daily Telegraph

Shuggie Baincomes from a deep understanding of the relationship between a child and a substance-abusing parent,showing a world rarely portrayed in literary fiction. . . Admirable and important. -- Sarah Moss ―Guardian

This isa dysfunctional love story. . . between a boy and his mother . . . what makes his book a worthy contender for the Booker is his portrayal of their bond, together with all its perpetual damage. ―Financial Times

Douglas Stuart's startling Glasgow-set debut novel creates a world of poverty and suffering offset by pure, heart-filling, love . . .It's a novel that deserves, and will surely often get, a second reading.-- Allan Massie ―Scotsman

Shuggie Bainis a novel that aims for the heart and finds it.-- John Self ―The Times

Tender and unsentimental . . . and the Billy Elliot-ish character of Shuggie . . . leaps off the page. ―Daily Mail

Beautiful and bleak butwith enough warmth and optimism to carry the reader through. -- Graham Norton