Young Mungo

Author: Douglas Stuart

Page Count: 391

Date Finished: 7/8/22

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis

Born under different stars, Protestant Mungo and Catholic James live in a hyper-masculine world. They are caught between two of Glasgow’s housing estates where young working-class men divide themselves along sectarian lines, and fight territorial battles for the sake of reputation. They should be sworn enemies if they’re to be seen as men at all, and yet they become best friends as they find a sanctuary in the doocot that James has built for his prize racing pigeons. As they begin to fall in love, they dream of escaping the grey city, and Mungo must work hard to hide his true self from all those around him, especially from his elder brother Hamish, a local gang leader with a brutal reputation to uphold.

But the threat of discovery is constant and the punishment unspeakable. When Mungo’s mother sends him on a fishing trip to a loch in Western Scotland, with two strange men behind whose drunken banter lie murky pasts, he needs to summon all his inner strength and courage to get back to a place of safety, a place where he and James might still have a future.

Imbuing the everyday world of its characters with rich lyricism, Douglas Stuart’s Young Mungo is a gripping and revealing story about the meaning of masculinity, the push and pull of family, the violence faced by so many queer people, and the dangers of loving someone too much.

Review

My first read with The Scottish Book Club and was certainly like diving in at the deep end.

The book comes with trigger warnings as it touches on many subjects that people may find upsetting so keep this in mind before choosing to read this story.

The warnings did have me going into this book with caution but I have to say it was an amazing read. Beautifully written with stories that many people will be able to relate to and characters that you either fall in love with or hate with a passion.

What Douglas gives us in this book is a large number of characters, all flawed in their own way, and all with varying level of traumas that have impacted them and made them into the people they are.

If you are looking for a Scottish author with a book based in some amazing Scottish locations then this is one you want to read and I promise it will be a thought provoking read.