Those readers aware of Stuart’s writing will find familiar themes: a gay son, loneliness, drunkenness, shame, guilt and a lack of self-worth. The difference, in this novel, is that these characteristics are lined up against a particularly hardcore Scottish Presbyterianism on Harris, a small island in the Outer Hebrides.

Cal (proper name: John-Calum MacLeod) returns to Harris from art college at the behest of his father, John. Cal baulks at returning, but he’s penniless and finds arguing with his father futile. Cal is close to his maternal grandmother, Ella. His mother, Grace, had left his father years before, which coincided with John’s fervent embrace of the church. John has secrets he’s using his hymn book to hide behind, though. Cal’s life is made much more difficult when he’s accused of fathering a child and pressured to marry the girl.

Harris is famous for its tweed, and using this fabric as a symbol for community works well here: how the population is woven together; how imperfections are hidden; and how the fabric can be torn by outside influences. The island population is small and despite their sense of community, many are lonely, their dreams unrealised. The title refers to the manner of proclaiming lineage: John-Calum is the son of John and is, therefore, John of John. It also serves to indicate that father and son aren’t so different from one another. The plotline is simple, as befits life on Harris, but the future happiness of both father and son lies in forgoing their secrets.

John of John is a slow book with consistent flashes of brilliance.

Reviewed by Bob Moore

Read a book review of Shuggie Bain

Read a book review of Young Mungo

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Douglas Stuart is a NY Times bestselling author whose work has been translated in to over 40 languages.

His debut novel, Shuggie Bain, won the 2020 Booker Prize and was a finalist for the National Book Award. It was named both the Overall Book of the Year, and Debut of the Year at the British Book Awards, and was selected by the Sunday Times as one of ‘the 25 best novels of the 21st century’.

His next novel, Young Mungo, was a Sunday Times #1 bestseller and a finalist for the Carnegie Medal.

His essays on gender, class and conformity have feature on Lit Hub and his short stories are published in The New Yorker.

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, he has an MA from the Royal College of Art in London and Honorary Doctorates from the University of Glasgow and Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh. In a previous life he was a designer for Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Kate Spade, and The Gap. Since 2000, he has lived and worked in New York City, although he spends as much time in Glasgow as he can.

Visit Douglas Stuart’s website