Glasgow-born author Douglas Stuart has found an unlikely fan in pop star Dua Lipa.
The Grammy-award-winning singer joined a prison book group to discuss the novel based on a boy growing up with his alcoholic mum in the city.
The 27-year-old singer said it was a “privilege” to see the book had on inmates. She said: “It has been interesting to see their reaction to Shuggie Bain. Either it has brought up certain feelings that could have been triggering, or they have been able to reflect on it and see how far they’ve come.
“I felt very privileged to be in that room, to experience that with them.”
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Shuggie Bain, which is based on author Stuart’s own childhood in Glasgow, gives a harrowing account of addiction and poverty in the 1980s.
The writer, who now lives in New York, won the Booker Prize in 2020 for his debut novel and recently revealed his plans for adapting his classic novel for the big screen on the back of its huge success.
Now Dua, who has won six Brit awards, has shared her love of the story with her 88 million Instagram followers by picking it as her first Book of the Month on her lifestyle platform, Service95.
The star was shown Downview Prison’s library in Surrey as part of a visit organised in conjunction with the National Literacy Trust and the Booker Prize Foundation.
The two organisations jointly run Books Unlocked, an initiative that donates Booker Prize-shortlisted novels to prisoners and prison libraries and brings their authors into jails.
Dua sat down with prisoners to discuss the novel and inmates told the singer how reading helps them to understand their emotions.
She said: “I wasn’t entirely sure what I was walking into.
“Women were asking each other, ‘What was the name of that book that you told me about that I need to read?’ It felt like the conversation was really flowing throughout the room, and it felt very exciting.
"It was nice to see a real sense of support in the room, which was really lovely.”
Earlier this month Dua met Douglas Stuart in person when she invited him to join her for a live recording of her podcast, Dua Lipa: At Your Service.
He told the singer of the “terror and anxiety” of growing up around addiction in Scotland.
The novelist has sold millions of books worldwide after his second novel Young Mungo was published last year.
He spoke of his delight at being awarded an honorary degree by the University of Glasgow earlier this month, saying: “I hope I’ve made my family proud.”
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