In the harsh beauty of Glasgow’s housing estates, Mungo grows up learning the rules of loyalty, survival, and silence. As a Protestant boy surrounded by family turmoil, he never expects to find tenderness in a world shaped by division. Yet in a quiet dovecote filled with racing pigeons, he and James, a Catholic boy, forge a love that defies their circumstances and the expectations that govern their lives.
Their secret becomes a fragile refuge against poverty, violence, and the weight of family demands. When Mungo’s mother sends him on a remote fishing trip with two unsettling men, his resilience is pushed to its limits, and the future he imagines with James hangs in the balance.
Acclaimed by NPR, Kirkus Reviews, Time, and the Washington Post, Young Mungo is a profound story of love, courage, and survival.
