An Intimate and Introspective Love Story That You’ll Never Forget

Review of Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson

What It’s About

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, and tenderly, they fall in love.

But two people who seem destined to be together can still be torn apart by fear and violence.

Beautifully written in prose that feels like poetry, Caleb Azumah Nelson tells an intimate, introspective, pure, and deep love story. While also reflecting on life as a Black man living in London.

What I Liked About This Book

If you’ve ever heard anything about this book, it was probably about the writing.

Beautifully poetic, Open Water is not only a love story but also so much more than that.

It explores the themes of identity, vulnerability, masculinity, and racial trauma.