Penniless and having achieved little after his studies at the School of Art, John Callum MacLeod returns to his birthplace, the Isle of Harris, and finds that almost nothing has changed—except him. On the windswept croft where he spent his childhood, he slips back into his old life and finds himself once again caught between the two dominant figures in his family: his father, John, a crofter, weaver and pillar of the local Presbyterian church, and his grandmother, Ella, a foul-mouthed woman who has lived with her son-in-law for decades.
While Cal wonders whether there are lonely men in the barren hills of his homeland, John is disappointed by his son’s long hair and unwillingness to do what it takes to save his soul. Time passes, and everything seems poised to change as the threads holding this fragile community together become increasingly tangled.
The heartbreaking story of a young man’s return to the place where he grew up, and of the way family bonds are tested and broken under the weight of expectations. A singular novel about duty, patience and the power of truth, establishing Douglas Stuart as one of the most important contemporary writers.
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
A fresh take on the Prodigal Son parable and a passionate exploration of the lives of gay men condemned to love, yearn and suffer in silence. The Guardian
John of John takes on all the familiar themes of a Douglas Stuart novel—intergenerational trauma, substance abuse, religion, masculinity—but, unlike the bleak atmosphere of Young Mungo and Shuggie Bain, it is suffused with tenderness, hope and love. Dazed
Stuart doesn’t reveal until the end whether his story leads to hope or tragedy. Until he does, he wants you to follow these difficult people, try to understand them, watch them fight unbearable battles and wish them well. The New York Times Book Review
His best work yet... His prose is gorgeous and his plotting ingenious... John of John is one of the literary triumphs of the year, and Stuart raises the bar with ease and confidence. The Boston Globe
An expansive, emotionally rich story that extends Stuart’s exploration of masculinity while depicting a world in which his gay characters come fully alive. His best yet. Vulture
John of John achieves a deft balance between detail and drama, grief and comedy... The Sunday Times
It is a story of cultural clashes, the crushing weight of family expectations, hard lives and secrets—so many secrets. The volatile, and at times violent, father-son relationship is explored with great skill. It is an incredibly moving and astonishing novel. The Times
The novel’s final quarter is impossible to put down and gives the impression that it could have been written by Thomas Hardy. The gripping finale is full of unexpectedly moving moments that underscore the book’s central idea: truth has the power to transform, and the marks left by honesty are mere scratches compared with the wounds inflicted by living a lie. Washington Independent
In John of John, Douglas Stuart displays the same emotional range and compassion as in his previous books, but this novel is something special. It has an immediacy, a violence, and a wonderful sense of place, where the tragedy of intense emotions is suppressed, concealed and then erupts into full view. Colm Tóibín
