'Masterpiece' work by 'one of the finest Scottish novelists writing today' named as Scottish Book of the Year

John of John has also been shortlisted for the Booker Prize

It is the story of a father and son struggling to communicate on the Isle of Harris late in the last century which has been shortlisted for a string of major literary awards.

Now novel John of John by Douglas Stuart has been announced as the Waterstones Scottish Book of the Year, making Stuart the only author to win the accolade twice.

The book is also shortlisted for the Booker Prize, which will be announced on Monday, as well as Waterstones Book of the Year.

Mr Stuart said: “There is no shortage of fine Scottish fiction and so I am both deeply honoured and totally delighted that John of John has been chosen as Waterstones Scottish Book of the Year. It is the greatest feeling to be recognized by actual booksellers and to be chosen by Scottish booksellers only makes the award all the more meaningful to me.”

John Of John is among the books on the 20-strong shortlist for the overall title of Waterstones Book Of The Year 2026, alongside Maggie O'Farrell for Land and David Byrne, who is originally from Dumbarton, who is shortlisted for his non fiction work, Sleeping Beauties. The winner will be announced on Thursday, 26 November.

Angela MacRae, Waterstones Scottish Buyer, said: “John of John portrays with great skill the isolation, repression, and secrets in a landscape and community that is both beautiful and unforgiving. Stuart effortlessly delivers a novel that is equally heartwarming and heartbreaking: it is frankly a masterpiece. We are delighted to say that Douglas Stuart is the first author to win our Waterstones Scottish Book of the Year for the second time.”

Toby Ritty, cluster leader Waterstones North of Scotland and Fife, said: “John of John is a sensitive and moving novel that communicates a profound sense of sadness, beauty, and human spirit. It evokes life in an island community, and the way secrets can sour relationships, with a tenderness and compassion that takes the breath away. It might just be Douglas Stuart’s best book yet and confirms his place as one of the finest Scottish novelists writing today.”

Now in its twelfth year, the Waterstones Scottish Book of the Year specifically champions books by authors based in Scotland, or titles that have a strong Scottish setting.

John of John follows Cal, a young queer man reluctantly returning home from college on the Scottish mainland in the late 1990s to his family croft on Harris to care for his grandmother.

Born and raised in Glasgow, Stuart graduated from the Royal College of Art and moved to New York, where he began a career in fashion design. Shuggie Bain, his first novel, which told the powerful story of a gay young man growing up in Glasgow in the 1980s, won the Booker Prize, Debut of the Year and Book of the Year at the British Book Awards- as well as the Waterstones Scottish Book of the Year in 2020 - while his second novel, Young Mungo, was also a bestseller.