Shuggie Bain

 

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Winner of the Man Booker Award for 2020, it is beautifully observed and written. The slow decay of a woman bent on slowly destroying herself with alcohol and so desperate not to be alone that she pushes everyone away from her. Her young boy trying to make sense of his mercurial mother and a world where he doesn't quite fit in. It's the violence too of the times and the place, the violence of poverty and of desperation and shame. It ends on a hopeful note but most of it is bleak--only the beauty of the writing keeps you reading.

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