Read With Us: John of John

It's my turn to talk about our Summer 2026 Read With Us book, John of John by Douglas Stuart. We've read Stuart's other two novels, Shuggie Bain and Young Mungo, but I think this one is his best yet. 

There are many reasons to read Stuart's newest novel (stunning portraits of a father and son, an examination of how faith and identity can collide, it balances heartbreak with hope, along with many others) but one of the things that struck me the most was the ways in which color is used, especially in weaving which plays a large part. 

One of the most beautiful aspects of John of John is the way Douglas Stuart describes weaving not as a static craft, but as something almost alive. Rather than treating color as individual threads, he often emphasizes what happens when colors are brought together under tension. The cloth becomes a conversation between colors.

Several patterns emerge in his descriptions:

Color as interaction

Instead of naming a single color, Stuart frequently describes how one shade changes another.

The warp and weft create:

• colors that deepen when crossed

• shades that seem to emerge only from a distance

• patterns that shimmer as the cloth moves

• hues that appear different depending on the light

The emphasis is on the relationship between colors rather than isolated pigments.

Colors borrowed from nature

The weaving is often described using colors familiar from the Scottish landscape:

• heather purple

• peat brown

• lichen green

• sea-grey

• storm blue

• oat and barley gold

• cream wool

• weathered stone

Rather than sounding like a paint chart, the colors feel organic and rooted in place.

Mixing without blending

A hallmark of woven cloth is that colors remain distinct threads while creating a new visual effect together. Stuart captures this beautifully. Instead of saying colors are mixed, he suggests they:

• flicker

• pulse

• break against one another

• soften each other

• create a color that exists only when viewed as cloth

This reflects the optical blending that happens in tweed and tartan, where blue and yellow threads may read as green from a distance.

Cloth as light

He also pays close attention to how woven wool catches light.

Colors may appear:

• dull in shadow

• luminous in morning light

• silvered by rain

• warmed by afternoon sun

The fabric changes throughout the day, making color something dynamic rather than fixed.

The emotional resonance of color

Because weaving is deeply tied to the characters' work and identity, color choices often carry emotional significance. Certain combinations evoke memory, family, or a particular landscape. A bolt of cloth can feel like an attempt to capture a hillside, a season, or a place that matters.

Precision without technicality

Although Stuart clearly understands weaving, he rarely overwhelms the reader with technical dye or textile vocabulary. Instead, he writes in sensory terms. You don't need to know anything about weaving to appreciate descriptions that make you see and almost feel the cloth.

For example, rather than cataloging colors, he might evoke a fabric that appears:

• "stormy" rather than merely grey,

• "bracken-colored" rather than simply brown,

• "like winter sunlight on water" instead of just silver.

Why it works

Stuart's descriptions mirror the craft itself. Weaving is about many individual threads creating something richer than any one thread alone. Likewise, his color descriptions are cumulative. He layers small observations until the reader perceives a complex whole, much as the eye perceives the blended colors of a finely woven tweed.

It's a fitting metaphor for the novel itself: individual lives, memories, and histories crossing one another to create something stronger and more beautiful than their separate strands.

The hardcover and audiobook versions have a manageable hold queue at my libraries, so I hope that is also the case for you. After reading it with my eyes the first time, my re-read is the audiobook, narrated by Lorne Macfadyen in a wonderful (but still understandable) brogue.

Kym, Carole, and I will be talking about the book, giving additional information, and doing promotional posts throughout July and August. Discussion day for John of John is scheduled for Tuesday, September 15, 2026 at 7:00 pm Eastern time, so mark your calendars. We'll ask questions on our blogs that day and then host the always educational and illuminating Zoom discussion. I think this is my favorite Douglas Stuart novel so far, and one that is also very discussable, so I hope you'll Read With Us!

Bonus: Observer article about Douglas Stuart and Hebridean weavers.