Description

Mungo Hamilton wants to escape the violence of Glasgow in the 1990s. He lives in social housing. Faiths clash, and parents are absent. His world includes meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous. He meets James Jamieson during a winter break. James is a year older. He keeps pigeons in a loft next to the motorway. Their first love brings hope, but faith divides them. Mungo is Protestant, while James is Catholic.

Mungo's mother, Mamițu, sends him to fish with two strangers. She hopes the weekend will make him more of a man. Instead, it tests his character and his own dark urges. He bears a saint's name but must face how his acts differ.

Douglas Stuart's literary novel looks at love, power, courage and violence. The story's threads come together as Mungo faces risks for being different. This edition forms part of the ANANSI. WORLD FICTION series. Mihaela Ghita translated the book from English. Its English title is Young Mungo.

Stuart's life began in Glasgow's Sighthill district in 1976. He studied at the Royal College of Art. He has worked in fashion design for more than twenty years. His first novel, Shuggie Bain, won the 2020 Booker Prize. It reached the final for the National Book Award. It also came out in forty languages. His second novel, Young Mungo, first came out in 2022. It became a bestseller across the world. It reached the final for the Carnegie Medal. Stuart lives in New York. He is adapting both novels for film and writing another book.