Author(s): Douglas Stuart

Fiction | Josh | Tyler

THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

‘Prepare your hearts, for Douglas Stuart is back. After the extraordinary success of Shuggie Bain, his second novel, Young Mungo, is another beautiful and moving book, a gay Romeo and Juliet set in the brutal world of Glasgow’s housing estates.’ The Observer

The extraordinary, powerful second novel from the Booker Prize-winning author of Shuggie Bain, Young Mungo is both a vivid portrayal of working-class life and the deeply moving story of the dangerous first love of two young men: Mungo and James. Born under different stars, Protestant Mungo and Catholic James live in a hyper-masculine world. They are caught between two of Glasgow’s housing estates, where young working-class men divide themselves along sectarian lines, and fight territorial battles for the sake of reputation. They should be sworn enemies if they’re to be seen as men at all, and yet they become best friends as they find a sanctuary in the doocot that James has built for his prize racing pigeons. As they begin to fall in love, they dream of escaping the grey city, and Mungo must work hard to hide his true self from all those around him, especially from his elder brother Hamish, a local gang leader with a brutal reputation to uphold. But the threat of discovery is constant and the punishment unspeakable. When Mungo’s mother sends him on a fishing trip to a loch in western Scotland with two strange men behind whose drunken banter lie murky pasts, he needs to summon all his inner strength and courage to get back to a place of safety, a place where he and James might still have a future. Imbuing the everyday world of its characters with rich lyricism, Douglas Stuart’s Young Mungo is a gripping and revealing story about the meaning of masculinity, the push and pull of family, the violence faced by so many queer people, and the dangers of loving someone too much.

Staff Notes: As the spiritual sequel to the 2020 Booker Prizer-Winner, Shuggie Bain, Young Mungo had a lot to live up to. So, you're probably wondering, does it? I'm here to say, oh lordy yes, it does. This deeply gorgeous novel tells the tale of two young men, Mungo and James, falling in love despite the aggressively masculine environment of 1980s Glasgow and their conflicting families on either side of the local religious sectarism. Mungo is a boy whose mother is an absent alcoholic and brother runs the local gang of Protestant Youth. With the constant threat of violence hanging over him, Mungo hides his true self while seeking a place where he and James can be safe and happy together. Stuart perfectly captures the brutal hardships Queer People face in a realistically nuanced way which makes this book so important.
Recommended by Tyler.