New Delhi, March 30 After the extraordinary success of his debut novel 'Shuggie Bain' that won the 2020 Booker Prize, Scottish-American writer Douglas Stuart is back with 'Young Mungo' that 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, Young Mungo (PAN MacMillan) 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.
Born and raised in Glasgow, 'Young Mungo' echoes the dark side of 'Shuggie Bain', which follows the life of Agnes Bain, who is descending into despair and struggling with alcohol after the breakdown of her marriage.
All but one of her children have been driven away by her deterioration, and that child, Shuggie, struggles to help Agnes while suffering huge personal problems of his own.
"Part of the reason Shuggie is queer is because I am queer and I grew up in Glasgow. I also liked the balance Shuggie offered to Agnes because it's really about how these two are receding from the world, and how they cling to each other and rely on each other," Stuart had said after receiving the 50,000 pounds Booker Prize.
After graduating from the Royal College of Art, Stuart moved to New York, where he began a career in fashion design. 'Shuggie Bain', in fact, won not only the Booker Prize but both 'Debut of the Year' and 'Book of The Year' at the British Book Awards. It was also shortlisted for the US National Book Award for Fiction, among many other awards.
His short stories have appeared in the New Yorker and his essay on gender, anxiety and class was published by Lit Hub. He divides his time between New York and Glasgow.
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