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The Radio 2 Book Club with Douglas Stuart

Douglas Stuart joins Jo for the latest edition of the Radio 2 Book Club to discuss his first novel Shuggie Bain.

Douglas Stuart joins Jo for the latest edition of the Radio 2 Book Club to discuss his first novel Shuggie Bain.

In 1981, Glasgow is dying and good families grift to survive. Agnes Bain has always expected more out of life. She dreams of greater things: a house with its own front door and a life bought and paid for outright (like her perfect, but fake, teeth). As she descends deeper into alcohol, her three children try their best to save her, yet one by one they must abandon her to save themselves.

Shuggie Bain, the youngest, holds out hope the longest. Shuggie is different. Fastidious and fussy, he’s picked on by the miner’s children and even the adults condemn him to be no’ right. But Shuggie believes that if he practices his hardest, he can be normal like the other boys and help his mother escape this hopeless place.

Douglas Stuart was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland. After graduating from the Royal College of Art in London, he moved to New York City, where he began his design career. He has led design for Calvin Klein, Banana Republic and Jack Spade. Shuggie Bain is his first novel, and he has nearly finished work on his next novel, Loch Awe.

1 hour, 57 minutes

Last on

Mon 24 Aug 2020 19:00

Music Played

  • Madonna

    Holiday

    • Finally Enough Love (Deluxe Edition).
    • Rhino.
    • 34.
  • First Aid Kit

    On The Road Again

    • On The Road Again.
    • Kobalt / AWAL.
    • 1.
  • Blur

    Charmless Man

    • (CD Single).
    • Food.
  • Declan McKenna

    Be An Astronaut

  • London Grammar

    Baby It's You

  • Paul Simon

    Mother and Child Reunion

    • The Paul Simon Anthology (Disc 1).
    • Warner Bros.
    • 1.
  • Sultans of Ping F.C.

    Where's Me Jumper

  • Travis

    The Only Thing (feat. Susanna Hoffs)

    • 10 Songs.
    • BMG Rights Management (UK).
  • Simple Minds

    Promised You A Miracle

    • The Best Of Simple Minds.
    • Virgin.
  • beabadoobee

    Care

  • Vampire Weekend

    This Life

    • Father Of The Bride.
    • Columbia.
  • Lizzo

    Good As Hell

    • Coconut Oil.
    • Nice Life.
    • 5.
  • Everything Everything

    Violent Sun

    • Infinity Industries/AWAL.
  • Billie Eilish

    My Future

    • My Future.
    • Darkroom/Interscope Records.
    • 1.
  • Bright Eyes

    Mariana Trench

    • Dead Oceans.
  • Billy Joel

    She's Always A Woman

    • The Stranger.
    • Columbia.
    • 7.
  • Glass Animals

    Heat Waves

    • Polydor.
  • Oasis

    Live Forever

    • Definitely Maybe.
    • Big Brother Records.
    • 003.
  • Groove Armada

    Lover 4 Now

    • BMG.
  • Arlo Parks

    Hurt

    • Transgressive Records.
  • Bobby McFerrin

    Don't Worry, Be Happy

    • Now 13, Part 1 (Various Artists).
    • Now.
  • Phoebe Bridgers

    Chinese Satellite

  • Noah and the Whale

    L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.

    • CD SINGLE.
    • Mercury.
    • 1.
  • Tame Impala

    Is It True

  • Bon Iver

    AUATC

Broadcast

  • Mon 24 Aug 2020 19:00