mostardentlyalice Facebook ad: “You cannot show up for judgement and say…”

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“You cannot show up for judgement and say: ‘Yes, I sinned, but oh Lord, I was happy.’” 🖤 (Thank you @picadorbooks @bookbreakuk for my copy - out 21st May!) John of John is the story of father and son, John and Cal. Cal returns to his home in the Outer Hebrides after finishing his art degree and with little to show for it. In turn, he must shrink himself down and hide his true self in the shadow of his father, who has secrets of his own. Douglas Stuart has this knack for slowing down time. What I mean by that is his writing demands that you take it slow, savouring his words, the stark characters we walk beside. He creates a closeness that I mostly only really experience in tomes that span more than 500+ pages. And yet I think Stuart could write any length of fiction and this would remain true. In John of John he combs over themes readers of Stuart will be familiar with. The working class, religion, alcoholism, masculinity, queer desire, suppression and shame, the latter of which here feels more sensitive and tense than ever. It is hot to the touch, tender. As if something might burst, and, should it, the characters believe it would be the most terrible thing to happen. Knowing as the reader it could actually hold the potential to change everything for the better, if only this father and son would talk. Really talk. A step away from the hard edges of his previous Glaswegian settings, this tale from an isolated island is no less brutal in its subtle devastation, though I will say it felt perhaps a little more hopeful. Unsurprisingly, I adored these characters, even when they were ugly to one another. I loved Ella and Innes in particular, and could write a dissertation about the intricate hypocrisies in John’s sometimes violent push towards masculinity, his work, and the softness within which he holds his religion. It’s been a while since a book has made me want to write and write, which is a testament in and of itself.

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amazon.co.uk

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