Brief summary: Shuggie Bain is an incredibly powerful and challenging debut novel of love, loss, and perseverance that brings light to struggle and inspires a hope for something more. As a fictional account of Stuarts own childhood in 80s Glasgow, it brings an emotional and fearsome reality to life and it will break your heart over and over.
This book felt like a mix between Angela’s Ashes meets A Little Life. Yes, those are two pretty sorrowful books and Shuggie is equally as sorrowful. I highly recommend reading with a group, it was so nice to be able to discuss the many feelings that this book makes you feel (mainly anger and sadness) with the #read group. I had to read in shorter bursts to counterbalance the sadness. I threw it down, I shed tears on its pages, and I stared at the cover (when I was listening to the audio). It is truly a remarkable story. Shuggie is one of those characters we hold in our hearts long after setting the book down.
What is a character that has stayed with you?
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Toni Rocchetti is a copy editor helping authors strengthen their narratives, deepen character arcs, and find the story that is already in the draft. She reads 80+ books a year across literary fiction, memoir, and nonfiction — and writes about what she is learning along the way. Work with Toni →
