Review | In ‘John of John’, Douglas Stuart unearths buried secrets and inherited shame

2026 Booker Prize-Shortlisted I am John of John of Iain of Iain the Breabadair,” says John ‘Cal’ Macleod to an old Scottish woman who asks about his “sloinntireachd”, his lineage. When we meet Cal at the start of the novel, he’s a newly-minted graduate in textile weaving, unemployed, mostly drunk, and living a closeted life. He learns from his father, John Senior, that his maternal grandmother Ella has feet that are “as purple as calf liver”. She is unwell, and Cal decides to return home.

John Senior is a scold of god, devoutly Protestant in the manner of those who feel permanently guilty. On the island of Harris, he is a well-regarded figure but also an object of pity. His wife Grace leaves him for his brother Uilleam, abandoning Cal and her mother Ella in the process. Instead of having the decency to move away, Grace chooses to hang about the island, have children with Uilleam, and most unforgivably, be happy.

To put things in perspective, John Senior also lives a closeted life. This enclosure includes his childhood friend and lover, Innes MacInnes.