Review | In ‘John of John’, Douglas Stuart unearths buried secrets and inherited shame
Douglas Stuart's latest novel, 'John of John', explores themes of inherited shame and closeted lives in 1990s Scotland. The story follows a young weaver who returns to his island home, navigating complex family dynamics and the weight of his father's repressed identity.
Why it matters
As a Booker Prize-longlisted work by a prominent author, the novel offers a significant cultural examination of LGBTQ+ experiences and generational trauma in rural settings.
I am John of John of Iain of Iain the Breabadair,” says John ‘Cal’ Macleod to an old Scottish woman who asks about his “s loinntireachd” , his lineage. When we meet Cal at the start of the novel, he’s a newly-minted graduate in textile weaving, unemployed, mostly drunk, and living a closeted life. He learns from his father, John Senior, that his maternal grandmother Ella has feet that are “as purple as calf liver”. She is unwell, and Cal decides to return home.
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