John by Douglas Stuart Review: Will a Father and Son Come Out to Each Other?

Douglas Stuart’s latest epic, set against the backdrop of the Hebrides, delves into themes of gay love and isolation, charting an arduous homecoming and the underlying currents of societal repression. A prevalent greeting in the Outer Hebrides, “Who do you belong to?”, takes on a particular resonance for 22-year-old Harris islander John-Calum Macleod, or Cal. By the time this question is posed to him, it’s clear his connection to his father, John, extends beyond mere familial ties, hinting at a possessive dominance. The novel opens with the two engaged in an unusual phone ritual, a practice established since Cal relocated to Edinburgh for his textile studies. John, a precentor, recites verses from the New Testament in Gaelic, and Cal is expected to sing them back with unwavering conviction. The chosen verse, foreshadowing the novel’s exploration of repression and self-denial, implores the faithful to guide the misguided and remain watchful against temptation. Following Cal’s affirmation, John instructs him to return to their island home, citing the purported illness of Cal’s maternal grandmother, Ella. Despite residing with Ella in her croft house, she is his ex-wife’s mother, making her John’s responsibility only by association.