John of John

Reviews / Votes

John of John has the emotional range and sense of sympathy of his earlier books, but this book is special, it has an urgency, an immediacy, a brilliant sense of place, the drama of fierce emotion repressed, concealed and volcanically exposed. -- Colm Toibin, author of <i>Long Island</i> To read John of John is to move to the Isle of Harris and take up residence in the family croft. The novel is so immersive, so all-encompassing, that I felt like I was living in it. Douglas Stuart has written something brilliant and rare -- Ann Patchett, author of <i>Tom Lake</i> You finish the novel feeling emotionally enriched and slightly bereft at leaving its characters behind. Few contemporary novelists produce prose so vivid, generous and full-bodied . . . It is difficult to imagine this year's Booker shortlist without it * The Sunday Times * Set against the stark beauty of the Hebrides, where the landscape, in all its colour and texture, is as alive and commanding as its people . . . No one crafts characters with the depth and precision of Stuart-John of John is a masterpiece -- Elaine Feeney, author of <i>Let Me Go Mad in My Own Way</i> John of John is another mesmeric, transportive, vividly sensory and astonishingly textured novel from one of our greatest writers -- Bernardine Evaristo, author of <i> Girl, Woman, Other </i> John of John is a fierce, glorious sting of a novel. Douglas Stuart has somehow lifted the rocky, windswept landscape of the Scottish Western Isles-as well as its externally stark and thwarted, if internally blazing, characters-and replicated both with utter flawlessness on the page. What an astonishing feat of literary fiction -- Lauren Groff, author of <i>The Vaster Wilds</i> Stuart renders father and son - their whole community on the far side of nowhere - with the acuity of an anthropologist and the bittersweet sympathy we reserve for our dearest, most confounding loved ones * NPR * In John of John, Harris is a character in its own right. Stuart is masterful in evoking the landscape, culture and traditions of the place . . . I was captivated. John of John is Douglas Stuart's most consummate work of literature to date -- Nicola Sturgeon, <i>Observer</i> A superb example of what a novel can do . . . I'd give him another Booker right away * The Scotsman * Douglas Stuart explores the visible and invisible chains of love forged between a parent and child - as each grapples with his respective faith and complex humanity. Stuart's characters yearn and yield tenderly as they struggle with fate and free will. The inimitable world of John of John is passionate, liberating, and gorgeous -- Min Jin Lee, author of <i> Free Food for Millionaires</i> and <i>Pachinko</i>, finalist for the National Book Award A modern masterpiece from a British titan . . . A capacious, ambitious novel, both swiftly readable and genuinely profound. In an era when reading is on the decline, fiction of this much generosity and depth might, I think, be our culture's own way to salvation * The Daily Telegraph * Powerful and surprising . . . Stuart is not just a very good writer but an immensely skilled storyteller * The New York Times * Proves Stuart is a first-class talent . . . An incredibly touching, surprising novel. You'll have to be patient, though, it's not published until May -- Robbie Millen, <i>The Sunday Times</i> John of John is Douglas Stuart's finest novel yet, and that is saying something . . . he infuses his narrative with an authentic understanding of the essence of Hebridean identity; he creates a novel that has the grandeur of classical literature but the readability and relatability of a contemporary masterpiece . . . Epic and intimate, this is the kind of novel that enlarges your very capacity for empathy -- Kevin MacNeil author of <i>The Stornoway Way</i> It's evocative, devastating and full of heart, with Stuart's signature way of making you want to read a single sentence again and again * Elle * Themes of desire and duty, inheritance and duty are woven as expertly as the tartan John produces, and Stuart's gift for descriptions often feels miraculous . . . This beautiful story of literal and metaphorical homecoming is wholly satisfying * Daily Mail * Breathtaking, life affirming, transcendent storytelling. John of John shows Stuart to be a true and abiding talent -- Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of <i>Almost Life</i> Douglas Stuart's best novel yet -- Ron Charles It's his finest work yet . . . John of John" is one of 2026's literary triumphs; Stuart ups his game with fluency and confidence * Boston Globe * A masterpiece. Every page is intimate and alive and offers tenderness with bruised knuckles. I finished it wrecked, in the best way. Cal, John, Innes and Doll will stay with me for a long time. This is Stuart at full stretch - I can't stop thinking about John of John -- Jodie Harsh, author of <i>You had To Be There</i> I love this book so much -- Alan Cumming * Interview magazine * A sprawling, emotionally rich saga that extends Stuart's investigation into masculinity while sketching a world in which his gay characters come fully, finally alive. It's his best yet * Vulture * Intimate yet epic in scale, it contains equal parts pastoral drama, tale of familial fracture, love story and inquiry into various forms of loneliness * Guardian * This striking queer coming-of-age story is set in a Scottish village of sheep farmers and weavers. Home from art school to help his family, Cal Macleod thinks he's the only one with a burning secret. He could not be more wrong * People * Told in beautiful, thoughtful prose that transports readers to lives and locales they will never know * Financial Times * But it's his empathic understanding of his characters and his deep exploration of their feelings that makes John of John so impactful. Rarely can a novel set on such a small scale have seemed so epic. * The Herald *