SHUGGIE BAIN
Sold Out Around The World
Since debuting in February, Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart is one of the most accomplished novels of 2020. In November, Stuart was honored with the prestigious Booker Prize, and the book has drawn comparisons to D.H. Lawrence, James Joyce, and Frank McCourt. Now an international bestseller, it’s no wonder it is always sold out and on back-order.
The semi-autobiographical work follows the life of Hugh “Shuggie” Bain, a lonely boy who spends his childhood in run-down public housing in Glasgow, Scotland during the 1980s. Shuggie’s mother, Agnes, is a guiding light but a burden for him and his siblings. As she teeters back and forth between alcoholic binges and sobriety, the older children find a way to distance themselves from their mother, leaving Shuggie to care for her. While he struggles as his mother’s caretaker, he also must endure the pain of being bullied at school for being gay.
Stuart dedicated the novel to his late mother, who died of alcoholism when he was 16. In an interview after receiving the Booker Prize, he said, “For 30 years I’ve carried an awful lot of loss and love and pain, and I wanted, really, just to tell the story of what it was like to grow up queer in Glasgow, to grow up with a parent who you love but you couldn’t save.”
Stuart studied textiles, earning a bachelor’s degree from the Scottish College of Textiles and a master’s from the Royal College of Art in London. He moved to New York City when he was 24 and worked in the fashion industry for several global brands, including Banana Republic, Ralph Lauren, Jack Spade, and Calvin Klein. During this time, Stuart began to write Shuggie and Agnes’s story, and it would take almost a decade to complete. Stuart told The New York Times, “I sat down to write ‘Shuggie’ without knowing what I was writing,” he said. “I wouldn’t allow myself to believe I was writing a book, because it was too intimidating.”
The vivid story of a bleak life of poverty, addiction, abuse, and coming of age caught Hollywood’s attention. A24 and Scott Rudin Productions won the rights to Shuggie Bain and will adapt the novel for television. Stuart said in a statement. “I often thought of the book in cinematic terms, and the glamourous, calamitous Agnes Bain certainly believes herself to be the star of her movie. It is a chance to show Glasgow with all her tenacity and unsinkable spirit and celebrate Shuggie and Agnes’s love and hope.” Stuart will adapt the novel to the screen.
