We felt a mixture of empathy, grief and exasperation for Agnes, not least with the impact her alcoholism had on her children and her constant need to present a prefect appearance to others! And Eugene, the irony of him being the one ‘nice’ guy in the story to nudge poor Agnes back off the wagon with his need for her to be ‘normal’ and have a wee drink.
The death of Agnes when it came was well portrayed and extremely tender with Shuggie’s input, by her side as he always was, through it all. He was always hoping that she might one day get better, a poignant portrayal of this in the showdown when Agnes turns up at Joan’s house post suicide attempt and slugs a bin through the window, swiftly followed by a well-aimed shoe at Joan’s head. A great scene, at once hilarious and tragic. I forgot to mention another of my favourite scenes at an AA meeting (pg 232) when a woman leans over the shoulder of Agnus and whispers ‘Aye.. right enough. The bastards couldn’t burn Saint Agnus so they beheaded the poor lassie instead. Fookin men eh?’
The very end nods to the cycle of life, or the vicious circle of poor upbringings – when Shuggie seeks out his young friend who is already living rough, following her own alcoholic mother out onto the streets.
So all, in all, a big thumbs up for Shuggie Bain, but we are seeking a more positive, perhaps humorous book sometime soon, to counter the bleakness!
And onto our next book – The Lying Life of Adults by Elenea Farrante for March.
