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Imprint: Viking
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Published: 04/02/2021
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ISBN: 9780241448779
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Length: 160 Pages
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Dimensions: 204mm x 18mm x 138mm
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Weight: 240g
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RRP: £12.99
'A tender and touching love story, beautifully told' Observer 10 Best Debut Novelists of 2021
'A beautiful and powerful novel about the true and sometimes painful depths of love' Candice Carty-Williams, bestselling author of QUEENIE
'An unforgettable debut... it's Sally Rooney meets Michaela Coel meets Teju Cole' New York Times
'A love song to Black art and thought' Yaa Gyasi, bestselling author of HOMEGOING and TRANSCENDENT KINGDOM
Two young people meet at a pub in South East London. Both are Black British, both won scholarships to private schools where they struggled to belong, both are now artists - he a photographer, she a dancer - trying to make their mark in a city that by turns celebrates and rejects them. Tentatively, tenderly, they fall in love. But two people who seem destined to be together can still be torn apart by fear and violence.
At once an achingly beautiful love story and a potent insight into race and masculinity, Open Water asks what it means to be a person in a world that sees you only as a Black body, to be vulnerable when you are only respected for strength, to find safety in love, only to lose it. With gorgeous, soulful intensity, Caleb Azumah Nelson has written the most essential British debut of recent years.
'An amazing debut novel. You should read this book. Let's hear it for Caleb Azumah Nelson, also known as the future' Benjamin Zephaniah
'A very touching and heartfelt book' Diana Evans, award-winning author of ORDINARY PEOPLE
'A lyrical modern love story, brilliant on music and art, race and London life, I enjoyed it hugely' David Nicholls, author of ONE DAY and SWEET SORROW
'Caleb is a star in the making' Nikesh Shukla, editor of THE GOOD IMMIGRANT and BROWN BABY
'A stunning piece of art' Bolu Babalola, bestselling author of LOVE IN COLOUR
'For those that are missing the tentative depiction of love in Normal People, Caleb Azumah Nelson's Open Water is set to become one of 2021's unmissable books. Utterly transporting, it'll leave you weeping and in awe.' Stylist
'An exhilarating new voice in British fiction' Vogue
'A poetic novel about Black identity and first love in the capital from one of Britain's most exciting young voices' Harper's Bazaar
'An intense, elegant debut' Guardian
LONGLISTED FOR THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE AND THE GORDON BURN PRIZE 2021
A NATIONAL BOOK AWARD '5 UNDER 35' HONOREE
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Imprint: Viking
-
Published: 04/02/2021
-
ISBN: 9780241448779
-
Length: 160 Pages
-
Dimensions: 204mm x 18mm x 138mm
-
Weight: 240g
-
RRP: £12.99
Reviews
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A beautiful and powerful novel about the true and sometimes painful depths of love
Candice Carty-Williams, Sunday Times bestselling author of QUEENIE
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Open Water is tender poetry, a love song to black art and thought, an exploration of intimacy and vulnerability between two young artists learning to be soft with each other in a world that hardens against black people
Yaa Gyasi, bestselling author of HOMEGOING
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This is an amazing debut novel. It's a beautifully narrated, intelligently crafted piece of love that goes deep, then goes deeper. You should read this book. Let's hear it for Caleb Azumah Nelson, also known as the future
Benjamin Zephaniah, award-winning poet, playwright and novelist
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Open Water is a very touching and heartfelt book, passionately written, which brings London to life in a painterly, emotive way. I love its musical richness and espousal of the power of the arts - pictures, sounds, movement
Diana Evans, Women’s Prize shortlisted author of ORDINARY PEOPLE
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Open Water encapsulates what it means to fall in love, explores what it means to move through the world whilst black, and explores the beautiful melding of the two. I will always remember it, and I will always return to this novel. A stunning piece of art.
Bolu Babalola, Sunday Times bestselling author of LOVE IN COLOUR
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Open Water is a beautifully, delicately written novel about love, for self and others, about being seen, about vulnerability and mental health. Sentence by sentence, it oozes longing and grace. Caleb is a star in the making.
Nikesh Shukla, editor of THE GOOD IMMIGRANT and author of BROWN BABY
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For those that are missing the tentative depiction of love in Normal People, Caleb Azumah Nelson's Open Water is set to become one of 2021's unmissable books. Utterly transporting, it'll leave you weeping and in awe.
Stylist
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An exhilarating new voice in British fiction
Vogue
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A poetic novel about Black identity and first love in the capital from one of Britain's most exciting young voices
Harper's Bazaar
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A debut already attracting awards season buzz, this shattering love story about two Black British artists is a compelling insight into race and masculinity. You'll remember this author's name
Elle
