Open Water Review

Open Water by Calum Azumah Nelson is beautifully written and has a heartbreaking narrative arc. It is written in a second-person perspective, which did take me a while to warm to, but I think it added to the positive experience of reading this book.

The rest of the day, a blanket draped over you, poring over the pages of a novel — Zadie Smith’s NW

The repeated references to Zadie Smith warmed my heart and made me want to read NW, one of the only Smith books I have not read, even more (a true feat). I was planning to include it in my February TBR anyway, but now it is sealed in.

The story is about a slow burn romance between a photographer and a dancer and it is wonderfully atmospheric. Much of the setting is domestic, which I found very cozy, which I especially appreciated because of the cold and misty weather this midwinter. I wish to spend the day draped in a blanket, poring over NW — hopefully, I can make that a reality soon.

Open Water is not just a cozy romance, however. The main character, the photographer, gives a lot of thought to how others in London see him, as a man inhabiting a Black body. Numerous times, he passes police officers and feels uneasy, with good reason:

You live broken, you live small, lest someone makes you smaller, lest someone breaks you. You are a Black body, container, vessel, property. You are treated as such because property is easy to destroy and plunder.

I would absolutely recommend this book. It is gorgeous and heart bruising, and I have rated it five stars.