A happy Burns Night to one and all. In honour of this day of celebration for ol' Rabbie Burns, and by extension all Scottish literature, we're taking a dive into one of the most popular Booker Prize winners: Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart. The novel, Stuart's debut, presents a blistering and heartbreaking exploration of the unsinkable love that only children can have for their damaged parents. In this episode Jo and James: Share a brief biography of Douglas Stuart Summarise the plot of Shuggie Bain Discuss their thoughts on the novel Delve into the characters, particularly Shuggie and his mother, Agnes Consider the idea of the divided self in Scottish literature Reading list: Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart Loitering With Intent by Muriel Spark His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet A full transcript of the episode is available at our website. Follow The Booker Prize Podcast so you never miss an episode. Visit http://thebookerprizes.com/podcast to find out more about us, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok @thebookerprizes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices