Open Water

December 1, 2020

At a jam-packed London pub, two young Black British people meet and fall in love. Both attended prestigious private schools on scholarship, and both are now trying to make it as artists, he as a photographer, she as a dancer. But forces beyond their control might tear them apart. British-Ghanaian writer/photographer Nelson was short-listed for the BBC National Short Story Prize 2020, and his British publisher won this book in a nine-way auction.

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2021
A riveting love story that celebrates the cultural significance of Black artists and examines the ways systemic racism figures into every aspect of the lives of young Black men. A photographer in his early 20s meets his friend Samuel for drinks at a pub in southeast London and finds himself instantly attracted to Samuel's girlfriend, a dancer and university student. These two unnamed figures--the book employs an unusual second-person narration, addressing the photographer as "you"--find their lives entangled almost immediately. Both know what it means to be young and Black in London, having won scholarships to attend elite private schools where they felt constantly out of place and now attempting to navigate artistic paths. The relationship becomes increasingly intimate as a jealous Samuel breaks up with the young woman, and the unnamed two collaborate on a photography project, capturing portraits of Black Londoners. Though they dance around the question of love, they find themselves spending days on end with each other, and he begins to spend more and more nights at the flat she shares with her mother, at first on the couch and eventually in her bed. As the two negotiate what it means to turn a strong and invaluable friendship into a relationship, he finds himself unable to articulate his fears and traumas to her, withdrawing in order to process memories of racial violence and police brutality, either witnessed or experienced firsthand. Black art becomes both balm and mirror for the photographer as he by turns hides from and wrestles with questions that may determine the course of his relationship: How can you find sanctuary in love when systemic forces seem determinedly against you? And how do you express vulnerability and fear when you are socialized to bottle up your emotions, to present a mask of strength? Written in lyrical and propulsive prose, a searing debut.

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Starred review from May 1, 2021

DEBUT In a contemporary south London dance hall, a man looks into a woman's eyes; in that moment, the pent-up fear and anger that afflict his psyche as a Black man are released. He's a photographer, she's a dancer, both are Black Britons who somewhat uncomfortably attended private school on scholarship; in her he senses that he could find a home where he would no longer have to guard his emotions. She would be the steady hand beneath the child's back as he learns to float in open water. The nameless characters reveal themselves through a shared appreciation for film, literature, and music, as they make the tricky journey from friendship to something deeper. In these safe spaces, they can be vulnerable, ignoring the constant worry that one or the other of them will become the victim of a sudden injustice based on their skin color. But then, in the haven of his barbershop, a violent encounter reinforces his forebodings, causing him to retreat from the optimistic future that she represents. VERDICT In lovely, rhythmic prose that flows like poetry, photographer and debut novelist Nelson has written a brave and beautiful ode to love, to the importance of self-love, and to the joy of being seen and understood in a world that's still set on denying Black personhood. An incandescent read that perfectly illuminates this moment in time.--Sally Bissell, formerly with Lee Cty. Lib. Syst., Fort Myers, FL

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from February 15, 2021
Nelson's impressive first novel is tender, lyrical, and all-consuming. In expertly crafted, poetic prose, this British Ghanaian writer tells the story of two young Black artists falling in love, falling out of love, and learning how to be soft and vulnerable in a society that refuses to allow them to be so. From the moment they meet in a London bar, the photographer and the dancer are drawn to each other, despite the fact that the dancer is in a relationship with the photographer's best friend and that she lives in Ireland during the academic year. At first, it's stolen moments and contrived reasons to be in the same space together, but slowly their relationship develops from friends to best friends to lovers, and the reader is taken along on the whole messy ride. But what resonates the most is Nelson's choice to narrate in the second person. This carries us into the mind of the young Black photographer as he navigates London and faces the very pressing realities of racism, discrimination, and microaggression. We readers are thus transformed with the protagonist, internalizing the realization that "It's one thing to be looked at and another to be seen." A truly exceptional debut.

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