Young Mungo is a book that very much continues where Shuggie Bain left off. It’s not a sequel, but if you squinted a bit, it certainly could be. The world is the same - the grinding poverty of the Glasgow tenements in the late twentienth century, Shuggie’s Sighthill looming over the background of various scenes. The central character is again a boy coming to terms with his sexuality in unforgiving circumstances, while simultaneously devoting much of his love and energy to an alcoholic mother, with the same complement of older siblings as Shuggie. In short, if you loved his debut, you’re not going to find yourself wildly thrown off by the contents of this one. There are, of course, differences. Mungo is a fair bit older than Shuggie, already somewhat adapted to the reality he needs to at least try to fit into; similarly devoted to his disastrous mother, but less reliant on her and therefore slightly more open to possibilities beyond her world; and with at least sense of the possibility of escape.

Shuggie Bain is a deeply personal story, clearly heavily influenced by Stuart’s own childhood, of a caring but “different” child, Hugh “Shuggie” Bain growing up in 1980s Glasgow with his alcoholic mother, Agnes. The book begins with the pair (and Shuggie’s two siblings Leek and Catherine) living with Agnes’ parents and Shuggie’s father “Shug” in Glasgow tenements. Shug moves the family to the isolated mining “scheme” accommodation of Pithill, before abandoning them to move in with another woman. Agnes is glamorous but unfulfilled, taking refuge in alcohol which worsens as her parents die and her daughter marries young and moves to South Africa.