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He is the second Scotsman to win the award
Prosperous
THE JUDGES of Britain, Britain’s most prestigious literary award, wisely returned to the convention on November 19. After the 2019 confusion that divided the awards, this year the Booker Prize was awarded to a single author, Douglas Stuart, for his novel “Shuggie Bain.” Despite being a debut novelist (newcomers rarely win the coveted award), Stuart impressed the judges with his bildungsroman set in the 1980s in Glasgow, a Scottish city where poverty and social deprivation were rife at the time.
At the low-key ceremony, Mr. Stuart, who attended via Zoom, modestly stated that he “didn’t expect that at all.” But it seems that Mr. Stuart is one of the few people who did not count his chances. Since the shortlist of six books was announced in September, it had been the clear favorite, with odds of 2/1 in the betting shops. Stuart’s husband even jokingly bet his wife would win.
“Shuggie Bain” describes the emotional bond between a mother, Agnes, and her youngest son, Shuggie. In a destructive relationship with Shuggie’s father, Agnes desperately tries to break out of “a life that knew the limits” in search of glamor and excitement. She is not a snob but a dreamer, and takes pride in her clothes, her demeanor, and her rugs. But her efforts to become the Elizabeth Taylor of Glasgow’s South Side end in disappointment: “Agnes looked at the grassy front gardens of the lower bungalows and tried to get excited again, but it was like trying to make a fire out of wet wood.” . She resorts to living on meager welfare payments and, increasingly, drinking. Shuggie, who is a quiet presence in the book at first, watches his “disintegrating mother” slide toward her seemingly inevitable fate.
Stuart’s descriptions of Glasgow and the robust characters of his working-class districts are realistic and compelling. But the highlight of her writing is the dialogue: she has managed to cleverly capture Glasgow’s ironic and indefatigable voice in all its various shades of wit, anger and hope. “If you’re going to put a book in Glasgow, you have to adopt the language,” says Stuart. “There is humor, poetry and frankness.” Although he now lives in New York, the author drew heavily on his hometown experiences, and his forthcoming second novel, “Loch Awe,” is set there as well. More tragically, the story of Agnes and alcoholism stems from Stuart’s memories of his own mother, who died when he was 16, and to whom the novel is lovingly dedicated. “My mother died very quietly of addiction one day,” he says.
Until this year, Mr. Stuart worked as a fashion designer. Although she has now achieved success with this novel, it was rejected by 30 publishers before it was accepted by Picador and Grove Press; he says that the Booker is “the confirmation that I belong here in the literary scene.” Now, bolstered by the £ 50,000 ($ 66,400) prize, he will be writing full-time. “Loch Awe” is finished and should hit shelves sometime next year. Stuart says a third novel is also in the works: “I’m ready to go out into the world.”
