Open Water

WINNER OF THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2021WINNER OF DEBUT NOVEL OF THE YEAR AT THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS 2022A No.1 BESTSELLER IN THE TIMES'A tender and touching love story beautifully told' Observer 'Hands-down the best debut I've read in years' The Times . '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 short poetic and intellectual meditation on art and a relationship between a young couple' Bernardine Evaristo author of GIRL WOMAN OTHER. '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. WINNER OF THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD WINNER OF DEBUT NOVEL OF THE YEAR AT THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDSSHORTLISTED FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES YOUNG WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNER OF THE BAD FORM BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDSHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEARLONGLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE AND THE GORDON BURN PRIZE A NATIONAL BOOK AWARD '5 UNDER 35' HONOREE Pre-order Caleb Azumah Nelson's new novel SMALL WORLDS now|Caleb Azumah Nelson is a British-Ghanaian writer and photographer living in South East London. His first novel OPEN WATER won the Costa First Novel Award and Debut of the Year at the British Book Awards and was a number-one Times bestseller. It was also shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award Waterstones Book of the Year and longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize and the Desmond Elliott Prize. He was selected as a National Book Foundation '5 under 35' honoree by Brit Bennett.|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.|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.|An exhilarating new voice in British fiction|A short sharp poetic burst of a novel; it crystallises the torments and heat of young love brilliantly|WINNER OF THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2021WINNER OF DEBUT NOVEL OF THE YEAR AT THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS 2022A No.1 BESTSELLER IN THE TIMES'A tender and touching love story beautifully told' Observer 'Hands-down the best debut I've read in years' The Times '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 short poetic and intellectual meditation on art and a relationship between a young couple' Bernardine Evaristo author of GIRL WOMAN OTHER'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' GuardianWINNER OF THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD WINNER OF DEBUT NOVEL OF THE YEAR AT THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDSSHORTLISTED FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES YOUNG WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNER OF THE BAD FORM BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDSHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEARLONGLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE AND THE GORDON BURN PRIZE A NATIONAL BOOK AWARD '5 UNDER 35' HONOREE Pre-order Caleb Azumah Nelson's new novel SMALL WORLDS now