Douglas Stuart's third novel, John of John, is a powerful, emotional and uplifting read.
The main protagonist is Cal (John). He's a struggling, 22-year-old arts school graduate with no job prospects and nowhere to live. His relationship with his conservative and emotionally distant father, John, is so fraught that he writes a script to guide their once-a-week telephone conversations (some scripted gems include 'There are so many pigeons here and they are not a bit afraid' and 'I saw a lot of red cars today'). Cal is also gay, and in the less accepting 1990s, he is left deeply lonely and confused.
John of John kicks off when Cal is reluctantly called home to the Isle of Harris, a rugged and remote island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. His grandmother's health is deteriorating, and his father, a weaver and farmer, needs his help.
Cal's return to his tiny village stirs up old tensions, and forces him to confront the family, friends and community that he left behind.
His father, a stern Calvinist deacon at the local church, is thrilled to have his son home but does not have the emotional bandwidth to tell him. Instead, he constantly picks at his son's long flame-coloured hair ("You look like a cross dresser that's thrown on a coat just because he's forgot the milk"), his work ethic, and his lack of a girlfriend.
Cal's grandmother Ella, a mischievous oddball, is one of the only people he can truly relate to on the island, but she's also manipulative. His best friend Doll, an alcoholic fisherman and occasional lover, can't forgive him for leaving him behind. Cal has a connection with his father's best friend, Innes, but their complicated history makes this difficult. Meanwhile, his mother, who left the family years ago, is busy with her second family.
It's a world where everyone has long-buried secrets, unmet expectations, and simmering resentment. Under so much pressure, something has to give.
John of John is a beautiful meditation on the unbearable weight of loneliness and longing. Each character is thoughtfully drawn and deeply human, from Cal's sweetness and wildness to John's tightly wound reserve.
The Isle of Harris is a character in its own right. It's breathtakingly beautiful, but also cold and unforgiving. The land is so rocky that even the sheep don't thrive. It's a place where the rich build holiday homes but one that is also derided by the mainlanders for being backward and ultra-conservative. There's beauty in the resourcefulness, determination and togetherness of the small community but for people like Cal, it can be isolating and claustrophobic when you don't fit in.
The writing in John of John has a lyrical, painterly quality which I loved, and it makes the world feel very visual. I wouldn't be at all surprised if this was made into an HBO limited series in the future.
I loved John of John. It's been a few weeks since I finished it, and I'm still thinking of the characters. It's a keeper.