'Beautiful and bleak but with enough warmth and optimism to carry the reader through.' Graham Norton (on Twitter) 'A debut novel that reads like a masterpiece, Shuggie Bain gives voice to the kind of helpless, hopeless love that children can feel toward broken parents.' Washington Post '[ Shuggie Bain ] would be just about unbearable were it not for the author's astonishing capacity for love . . . The book leaves us gutted and marveling: Life may be short, but it takes forever.' New York Times 'A boy's heartbreaking love for his mother . . . as intense and excruciating to read as any novel I have ever held in my hand . . . brilliantly written.' Newsday 'A formidable story, lyrically told, about intimacy, family, and love.' ELLE (US)