Douglas Stuart's next novel coming from Picador in 2026

Picador has acquired a new novel from the Booker Prize-winning author Douglas Stuart, due May 2026.

UK, Commonwealth and audio rights were acquired by Picador publisher Mary Mount from Lucy Luck at C&W, on behalf of Anna Stein at CAA. John of John will be published on 21st May 2026. Peter Blackstock, deputy publisher at Grove, will be publishing in the US. 

Set in the Isle of Harris, John of John is "a tender and devastating story of love and religion, of a father and son, art and landscape and the corrosive effects of living a secret life", which "confirms Douglas Stuart as one of Britain’s greatest contemporary novelists", Picador said.

Stuart said: “I am thrilled to be returning to Picador and to have the opportunity to work with the incredible Mary Mount. Picador has been my home since the beginning of my publishing career and I know how lucky I am to work with such a dedicated, talented team. John of John is a novel that I began writing in 2019 during an unforgettable stay on the Outer Hebrides. It is a story of fathers and sons, of friends and lovers, and I can’t wait for readers to meet the Macleod family and to journey with me to the beautiful east coast of Harris.”

Mount said: “It is a huge thrill to read a new novel by Douglas Stuart. He is, quite simply, an extraordinary writer. John of John is as acutely observed, as brilliantly realised as his first two books and yet this new novel also enters into a new territory, giving Douglas the opportunity to write utterly vividly about landscape, creativity and art in the context of working-class lives, fathers and sons. A new novel by Douglas Stuart is truly a publishing event. I cannot wait for his many fans around the world to read John of John.”

Stuart’s previous novels include Shuggie Bain, which won the Booker Prize in 2020, and Young Mungo (both published by Pan Macmillan).