Small Worlds

An exhilarating and expansive new novel about fathers and sons, faith and friendship from Caleb Azumah Nelson, the no.1 bestselling, award-winning author of Open WaterThe one thing that can solve Stephen's problems is dancing. Dancing at Church, with his parents and brother, the shimmer of Black hands raised in praise; he might have lost his faith, but he does believe in rhythm. Dancing with his friends, somewhere in a basement with the drums about to drop, while the DJ spins garage cuts. Dancing alone, at home, to his father's records, uncovering parts of a man he has never truly known.Stephen has only ever known himself in song. But what becomes of him when the music fades? When his father begins to speak of shame and sacrifice, when his home is no longer his own? How will he find space for himself- a place where he can feel beautiful, a place he might feel free?Set over the course of three summers in Stephen's life, from London to Ghana and back again, Small Worlds is an exhilarating and expansive novel about the worlds we build for ourselves, the worlds we live, dance and love within.

“Let's hear it for Caleb Azumah Nelson, also known as the future”

Nelson writes about closeness, with family, with lovers, with art, as careful, essential labour -- Raven Leilani, author of Luster
A mesmerising Peckham love story i
An affecting meditation on the migrant experience Guardian
Caleb Azumah Nelson's writing is touching, heartfelt, and musically rich -- Diana Evans
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
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
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 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
A gentle reflection on self-discovery Vogue, 2023 Spring Highlights
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

Caleb Azumah Nelson is a British-Ghanaian writer and photographer living in South East London. His first novel, OPEN WATER, won the Costa First Novel Award and Debut of the Year at the British Book Awards, and was a number-one Times bestseller. It was also shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize, the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, Waterstones Book of the Year, and longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize and the Desmond Elliott Prize. He was selected as a National Book Foundation '5 under 35' honoree by Brit Bennett.

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