Shuggie Bain

WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE

Shuggie Bain is the unforgettable story of Hugh “Shuggie” Bain, a sweet and lonely boy growing up in 1980s Glasgow, where Thatcher’s policies have left families struggling and unemployment is rife.

At the center of Shuggie’s world is his mother, Agnes. Glamorous and fiercely proud, she dreams of a better life, ordering small luxuries from the Freemans catalogue and transforming herself into a Glaswegian Elizabeth Taylor. But beneath the make-up and immaculate clothes, Agnes is losing herself to alcohol. As her addiction deepens, Shuggie’s older siblings find ways to escape, leaving him to care for the mother he loves as she cycles between binges and sobriety.

Meanwhile, Shuggie is desperately trying to become the “normal” boy he longs to be. Everyone around him seems to recognize what he cannot—or will not—say about himself. Agnes loves and supports her son, but her addiction threatens to consume everyone closest to her, even her beloved Shuggie.

Heartbreaking and deeply intimate, Shuggie Bain is a powerful portrait of addiction, sexuality, desire, and love. And of a working-class family struggling to survive in a world that has little mercy for them.