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.WINNER OF THE BAD FORM BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDSHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEARLONGLISTED FOR THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE AND THE GORDON BURN PRIZE 2021A NATIONAL BOOK AWARD '5 UNDER 35' HONOREE Review 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 HOMEGOINGA beautiful and powerful novel about the true and sometimes painful depths of love -- Candice Carty-Williams, Sunday Times bestselling author of QUEENIEThis 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 novelistOpen 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 PEOPLEOpen 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 COLOUROpen 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 BABYFor 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. ― StylistAn exhilarating new voice in British fiction ― VogueA poetic novel about Black identity and first love in the capital from one of Britain's most exciting young voices ― Harper's BazaarA 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 About the Author Caleb Azumah Nelson is a 25-year-old British-Ghanaian writer and photographer living in South East London. His writing has been published in Litro. He was recently shortlisted for the Palm Photo Prize and won the People's Choic