- Published: 16 May 2023
- ISBN: 9780241574348
- Imprint: Viking
- Format: Hardback
- Pages: 272
- RRP: $32.99
Small Worlds
- Published: 16 May 2023
- ISBN: 9780241574348
- Imprint: Viking
- Format: Hardback
- Pages: 272
- RRP: $32.99
If you haven't had a chance to read Caleb Azumah Nelson's debut, Open Water, about a gorgeous love affair in modern-day London, then please do; it'll keep you occupied until his new release is out on 11 May, which is about fathers and sons, the power of dance and how one man can create a life he loves
Stylist, Big Fiction for 2023
Small Worlds grabs you by the heart and holds tightly, revealing a story as beautiful and as lyrical as the words that adorn the pages.
Sofia Akel
Caleb Azumah Nelson's writing is touching, heartfelt, and musically rich
Diana Evans
Caleb Azumah Nelson's Open Water was a slim masterpiece. His second novel, Small Worlds is a similarly lapidary coming-of-age story set over three years in the life of an extraordinary young man.
Observer
SMALL WORLDS is a miracle of observation, of attention and attunement. Caleb Azumah Nelson writes prose that is unmatched in its musicality and sensitivity. A gorgeous, rhapsodic, wise novel
KATIE KITAMURA, author of INTIMACIES
A gentle reflection on self-discovery
Vogue, 2023 Spring Highlights
In his beautiful new novel Nelson summons the sounds of Black Youth, love and discovery to the page. A celebration of the heart
Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of CHAIN-GANG ALL-STARS and FRIDAY BLACK
Caleb Azumah Nelson's writing captures nostalgia-that most essential of sentiments-like no other. I was immersed, transported, and at the same time affirmed in the familiar. Gorgeous
Sareeta Domingo, author of IF I DON'T HAVE YOU
A wonderful, dexterous work. Caleb Azumah Nelson explores modes of blackness in ways that are enriching and invigorating
IRENOSEN OKOJIE
Both intimate and inviting, Azumah Nelson weaves not just worlds but exquisite universes with his words. SMALL WORLDS is a masterful exploration of love, masculinity, coming of age and community, and Azumah Nelson's dextrous, sublime pen brings it into dazzling life.
Bolu Babalola, author of LOVE IN COLOUR
A mesmerising Peckham love story
i
Nelson writes about closeness, with family, with lovers, with art, as careful, essential labour
Raven Leilani, author of Luster
An affecting meditation on the migrant experience
Guardian
A book which is alert and enlivening, at once serious and a pleasure to read
Literary Review
Small Worlds is a Vermeer universe of a novel, of warmth, deep feeling, aching and gorgeousness. To read is to be hugged by a rich brown oak, ever stretching out. It is as charged as it is earthed. It is wonderful.
Inua Ellams
Small Worlds is an emotionally astute novel that cements this 29-year-old south London author as one of the UK's best.
New Statesman
It's a story about finding both one's identity and one's place in the world.
Art Review
moving, intimate, and sizzling hot
Sunday Times
Steeped in nostalgia, grief and heartbreak, yet somehow still hopeful, this is one of the best books I've read all year.
City AM
This story about rebuilding small worlds - places in which to feel beautiful and free - is itself a thing of beauty
Prospect
A coming-of-age story set in London's Peckham and Ghana that follows Stephen's journey to manhood'
The Sun - Your Tik Top summer reads
Let's hear it for Caleb Azumah Nelson, also known as the future
Benjamin Zephaniah
An exhilarating new voice in British fiction
Vogue
One of Britain's most exciting young voices
Harper's Bazaar
Hands-down the best debut I've read in years
The Times on OPEN WATER
The rhythms of Small Worlds are a feature of Nelson's quiet, particular ear and of a profound engagement with music. Nelson writes about closeness, with family, with lovers, with art, as careful, essential labour
Raven Leilani, bestselling author of LUSTER
A novel that feels as intimate as it does expansive; Caleb Azumah Nelson has given to us a love story that goes beyond two people. Instead, there are no bounds to his exploration of exactly what the heart can feel. Beautiful, unforgettable and all-consuming
Candice Carty-Williams, bestselling author of QUEENIE and PEOPLE PERSON
A beautiful novel. Caleb Azumah Nelson is not just a storyteller; he is a cultural archivist of our time. At the core of Small Worlds is a deep love. Whether in music, locality, the people we are introduced to, or the circumstances that we journey and process through. Love is the offer, and Caleb's reminder for us is to lean into these offerings for history and reflection. For guidance, and most importantly, our survival.
Yomi Sode, author of MANORISM