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Stuart wins the prestigious literary award for the novel Shuggie Bain.
Scottish writer Douglas Stuart won the Booker Prize for Fiction with Shuggie Bain, the story of a boy’s turbulence as an adult in the 1980s in Glasgow.
Stuart won the prestigious 50,000-pound ($ 66,000) prize on Thursday for his first published novel.
He was the only British author on a US-dominated list of six finalists for the award, open to English-language novels from around the world.
Margaret Busby, who chaired the jury, said Shuggie Bain was meant to be a classic.
She called it intimate and captivating, empowering but hopeful as she explored young Shuggie’s complex yet loving relationship between mother and son.
The winner was announced during a live ceremony in London that included remote appearances from Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and former US President Barack Obama.
A love story’
Stuart’s book reflects his own experiences growing up with a mother who was an alcoholic and died of her addiction.
He described the book as a “love story” about the kind of “unconditional and oft-tested love” children can have for faulty parents.
In a moving speech, the 44-year-old, who now lives in New York City, said: “My mother would be thrilled, she would be absolutely thrilled and I think she would be proud.”
He said he had carried “a lot of love and pain” and that writing the book was “incredibly healing for me”.
He also paid tribute to his hometown by saying that “growing up in Glasgow is, I think, one of the greatest inspirations of my life”.
Prior to the announcement, UK bookmakers had backed Stuart to win the award for best English-language fiction published in the UK and Ireland.
He was chosen as the winner of the most diverse list in the award’s five decades of history.
Among the finalists were American Avni Doshi’s debut novel Burnt Sugar, alongside American debutants Diane Cook (The New Wilderness) and Brandon Taylor (Real Life).
Zimbabwean author Tsitsi Dangarembga (This Mournable Body) and Ethiopian American Maaza Mengiste (The Shadow King) were the only authors on the list.
The list was narrowed down by a panel of five judges from a long, US-dominated list of 13 finalists, which included veteran Hilary Mantel.
The Booker has launched careers and courted controversy since its inception in 1969.
Last year, judges tore up the rules by jointly awarding them to Canadian author Margaret Atwood and Anglo-Nigerian author Bernardine Evaristo.
Evaristo said at Thursday’s ceremony that winning the award was a “magical moment” and “I feel like I was launched into the world as an author.”
Past winners included famous writers from Ian McEwan and Julian Barnes to Kazuo Ishiguro and Roddy Doyle.
Paul Beatty became the first American winner when The Booker gave in to the pressure and began including writers from outside the Commonwealth, Ireland and Zimbabwe in 2013.
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