But the way that one lad is cradling the other lad’s head is incredibly tender. “First of all, there’s sexual desire there because of the kiss. “ speaks to me of love and embrace,” continues the New York-based Scotsman. They should be sworn enemies if they’re to be seen as men at all… As they begin to fall in love… Mungo must work hard to hide his true self… especially from his elder brother Hamish, a local gang leader with a brutal reputation to uphold.” Without wishing to give the game away on a book not out for another three months, the abridged plot summary is: “Protestant Mungo and Catholic James live in the hyper-masculine and violently sectarian world of Glasgow’s housing estates. It’s a queer image… that pushes away the isolation.” “It’s about two young lads in Glasgow finding each other and clinging to each other. “ Young Mungo isn’t about that isolation,” Stuart, 45, tells me. “Thank you to the incredible artist #wolfgangtillmans for allowing me to use his iconic photograph – I am humbled by his generosity.”

“Beyond chuffed to finally reveal the UK cover of Young Mungo,” Stuart tweeted last month. Indeed, that image of a lad climbing on what looks like a clothes drying pole, shot by photographer Jez Coulson in a Glasgow housing scheme circa 1987, is popularly known as Crucified in Easterhouse or Easterhouse Crucifixion.įor his second novel, Young Mungo, though, Stuart had (obviously) a different story to tell and a different cover image in mind: Wolfgang Tillmans’ 2002 photograph The Cock (Kiss), an up-close-and-personal shot of two men kissing in a London club.

That’s the symbolism of him, alone in this landscape.” “And that’s even the case with Shuggie Bain – here’s a little boy who’s literally being crucified. “Oftentimes in queer literature, the queer character on the cover is seen alone, solo, or maybe looking a little bit downcast,” says the author of Shuggie Bain, the 2020 debut novel that roared, winning the Booker Prize and critical accolades galore. Douglas Stuart had a very specific idea for the front jacket image of his first book.

Douglas stuart young mungo