Two young people meet in a packed London bar. Both are Black British, both received scholarships to private schools where they struggled to fit in, both are now artists–he is a filmmaker, she is a dancer–and both are attempting to make their mark in a world that embraces and refuses them in equal measure. They fall in love tentatively and tenderly. But even two people who seem to be meant for each other can be torn apart by fear and abuse, and their relationship can be tested by forces beyond their control over the course of a year.
Open Water is an achingly beautiful love story and a powerful insight into race and masculinity, asking what it means to be a female in a world that only sees you as a Black body; to be weak when you are only admired for your strength; and to find comfort in love, only to lose it. Caleb Azumah Nelson paints a deeply sensitive picture of romantic love in all its feverish waves and comforting elegance with gorgeous, soulful passion and blistering emotional intelligence.
This is one of the most essential debut novels of recent years, heralding the arrival of a stellar and prodigious young talent.
