John Calum MacLoed, known as Cal, is a gay young man. He graduated from art school and returns home to a remote island in Scotland after his father informs him that his grandmother is quite ill. Cal’s life in his hometown is extremely uncomfortable. He must hide his sexuality from the strict Presbyterian community he now lives in, including his father, John, who is a closet gay man. It turns out that many of the townspeople have secrets that Cal, for the most part, discovers.

If you liked Douglas Stuart’s first two novels you will want to read his third. Like the others, John of John has a main character who is gay and thus has a hard life with many obstacles. It takes a while to understand the lives of the main characters in John of John but perseverance pay off. Douglas Stuart does a fine job of rendering loneliness, family obligations, taboos and repression.