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Content snapshot
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Violence
Very heavy
Extreme graphic violence including sexual assault; the fishing trip narrative builds to horrifying violence
Language
A lot
Strong language in Stuart's Glasgow register
Sexual Content
A lot
Sexual content including assault and the gay romance at the novel's center
Substance Use
A lot
Significant substance use; the mother's alcoholism is parallel to Shuggie Bain
Emotional Intensity
Very heavy
Extreme psychological horror — both the violence of the homophobic world and the vulnerability of Mungo's gentle nature in it — creates one of the most demanding and devastating reads in contemporary fiction
What this book is about
Douglas Stuart's second novel follows Mungo, a gentle teenage boy growing up in 1990s Protestant Glasgow, whose secret romance with a Catholic boy across the religious divide puts his life at risk. The novel alternates between a present-day fishing trip with dangerous strangers and the events of the summer that led to it. Stuart writes with the same unflinching honesty as Shuggie Bain; the sexual violence, homophobia, and class brutality are extreme. For adult readers only.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Extreme graphic violence including sexual assault
Sexual assault present
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