What a remarkable, heart-wrenching and honest story of a Scottish family and the difficult lives they lead in poverty. The main character, Shuggie, is the youngest son to a dysfunctional family. We meet him as a precocious and young child who grows into a teen throughout the story. He has a raging alcoholic as a mother, who never felt that she was living the life she deserved. His father was a philanderer who changed families as fast as things got rough in his current situation. Shug, the dad, was always dallying on the side and then ready to move on when life wore him down. The older siblings each gradually moved away for their own security and to live their lives leaving poor Shuggie to care for himself and his mother and her self destructive ways. Shuggie has a rough life for multiple reasons given his challenging family situation as well as neglect due to those circumstances. He becomes the subject of bullying, abuse, neglect and truancy. He is a complex character whose own gender identity appears to be a part of his story without it being his only story.
This book was brilliantly written and narrated by Angus King, who brought the dialect from the written pages to life. I highly recommend the audiobook. I had the physical book prior to getting a copy of the audiobook from NetGalley and it adds so much to the reading experience. The language is beautiful and the story is compelling.
In reading the author’s notes at the end, I was even more impressed at the author for using his own experience as the backdrop for the novel. Douglas Stuart created a wonderful reading experience.
I highly recommend this for anyone who likes a dark family drama.
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