Open Water
Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson
Reviewed by Jess
📙📙📙📙
Finally working my way through my TBR pile and this might be the smallest and lightest in the stack, but it’s heavy on feelings and words so do not be fooled by the size!
Written in the second person, Caleb Azumah Nelson tells the story of a young black male photographer in the UK who falls in love with a dancer (no names given at any time!). At first this relationship is forbidden - she’s dating his friend, they’re working together on a project, things could get messy. But they’re drawn together it seems, by some magnetism or unexplained force, and their will they won’t they plays out to a delicious climax. But of course, what goes up must come down, and an event that causes the protagonist to close himself off also ends up shutting the relationship down. I loved reading about a relationship from the male perspective! More of this please.
But this book is more than a love story. It’s a meditation on the experiences of being a black man in this country, both joy and sorrow. On what it means to connect with people who understand you on a deeper level, who share your fears, who care deeply. On family ties and friendship nets and sibling bonds. On the pioneers of black art and literature and music in the UK and further, their visibility and what it meant to be able to see them on the TV growing up - to see yourself reflected in the world. The writing is poetic, and the second person narrative serves to put the reader into the story in a personal and emotional way. The ending was frustrating for me - I needed it to be wrapped up with a pretty bow on it but alas you can’t have it all! A really important book for our time.
