There is some prose that, upon reading a single sentence, immediately strikes a chord. Caleb Azumah Nelson’s writing is like that. Whether describing a serendipitous glance between two unwitting lovers or the uncontrollable urge to surrender the self to a new crush, Nelson’s debut novel Open Water palpably captivates, as it tells a soulful story of two young Black artists in London who fall in and …
Through illuminating prose, Thomas Grattan masterfully chronicles the story of Beate Haas and her two children—as they grapple with the concepts of home, togetherness, personal identity and queerness—in his epic debut novel, The Recent East. Grattan’s distinct narrative voice brings these characters to life, across decades and under remarkable circumstances.
In Nawaaz Ahmed’s stunning, complex and enveloping debut novel, Radiant Fugitives, the author underscores the path of three generations of a Muslim Indian family with an emotional examination of politics, culture, race, prejudice, sexuality and religion. Ahmed sets his book—which is narrated by the newborn child of a gay Muslim Indian woman and a Black father—in San Francisco during the presidential campaign and first year …
