Shuggie Bain

Shuggie Bain, Scottish-American author Douglas Stuart’s debut novel, is a work of realist fiction depicting the childhood and teenage years of the title character. Though Shuggie is the protagonist, much of the novel’s action centers on his mother, Agnes Bain, and her struggle with alcoholism. Set in and around Glasgow from 1981-1992, Stuart’s novel reflects the bleak conditions the Glaswegian working class faced in an era of deindustrialization following the policies of the Thatcher administration. Shuggie Bain was published in 2020, to great critical acclaim, winning the 2020 Booker Prize, and being longlisted for the Fiction First Novel Prize and the National Book Award. Stuart's second book, Young Mungo, was published in 2022, and was on several "best books of the year" lists, including The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, and Time Out.

This guide references the Grove Press paperback edition.

Plot Summary

Two chapters bookend the novel, depicting Shuggie Bain’s life in 1992 before showing the events in his and his mother’s lives from 1981 to 1991. Shuggie Bain, at only age 16, is living alone in Glasgow, Scotland. He lives in a run-down boarding house whose owner does not ask many questions.