As Douglas Stuart’s latest novel opens, we are fooled. All signs point to a stereotypically conservative father calling his rebellious art student home to his family and church on a remote Scottish island. But instead of predictable prodigal son tensions, we find complex and surprising family dynamics and characters that will stay with us long after the last page including the best grandmother in recent fiction.
“John of John” by Douglas Stuart was an Oprah Book Club selection and is long listed for three major literary awards including the Booker Prize, the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction, and the Kirkus Reviews Prize.
What so many critics love about this novel is the layers of depth in what could have been a one-dimensional story of father-son conflict. Early in the story we learn that both son and father are keeping a secret from each other and see the consequences of those secrets on their lives as well as on many of their fellow islanders. Eventually, the mutual deceit brings us to a heart stopping conclusion.
Cal, an art student who leaves the family home to study on the mainland, is unable to be honest with his father about who he is. John, Cal’s father, is unable to be honest with his son, or with himself, about his own life. The very small community of their home island and the rigidity of the church there make the lies they both are living quite dangerous. The tangled web of appearances comes to a climactic breaking point that threatens to destroy what is left of both their lives when one key moment of honesty begins to change everything.
With a gripping, unforgettable ending, and the grandmother of all grandmothers, “John of John” is a wild ride. “John of John” by Douglas Stuart is available now at your public libraries.
