Member Reviews
I will read anything Caleb Azumah Nelson writes, honestly. He finds a way to make emotions feel so real to the reader. It’s pretty much given that you will become invested in the lives of all the characters you’re introduced to the story. I didn’t think Open Water could be topped, and it wasn’t really. But I think they’re equals in their writing. And that’s so rare in a story.
I also really love books that take a deep dive into the lives of family members. Assessing the things that hold them together, and the things that threaten to break them apart. We’re all flawed, and yet we still have to live our lives, love and be loved despite this. It’s a story about grief, finding yourself as you make your way into adulthood, loving those around you, and connecting to your roots. Love love love. Not much more I can say.
Caleb Azumah Nelson has done it again. If you liked Open Water you should definitely read this one. The prose is just as beautiful as in his first book.
We follow Stephen as he is graduating high school and how he starts navigating life, his fate, his relationships, and most importantly grief.
I implore everyone to read this because Calebs writing will blow your mind.
When I saw Caleb Azumah Nelson wrote another book, I immediately had to have my hands on it, and NetGalley came through for me. Thank you again NetGalley!
Small Worlds follows Stephen, after his graduation of high school, navigating a new phase of his life in the various worlds he occupies. Three summers filled with his family world, his friends/community, his music, his faith, and how he experiences the thrills of life, but also how his small worlds affect him.
As with Open Water, Caleb Azumah Nelson's writing is lyrical, poetic and consuming. His writing feels like tasting the scent your smelling, mouth-watering for more and also feeling so sated after finishing the book. I loved this one (mostly the story) more than I did Open Water, as I felt I resonated with the story so much more.
If you're one for literary fiction or stories about community, read this book!
CW: depression, death of a loved one, grief.
Could we expect anything less than perfect from the author who blew everyone away with Open Water? No, probably not.
Another immersive read that explores our protagonist Stephen as he comes of age in a time where police brutality is not easing, he is struggling with immense grief and navigating who he is and who he loves.
The musical element through Small Worlds was such a nice touch to an already expansive read. It really grounded us in time and place, and added another dimension to the characters. For such a short book, the tension and pace was excellent, the writing was lyrical and poetic and just god damn beautiful.
5 big beautiful bright stars!
This is a lyrical coming-of-age story steeped in familial and intergenerational trauma, brotherhood, music, racism, migration, marginalization, community, and intimacy.
“Grief never ends, but we find a way to walk in the light someone has left behind, rather than living in pain’s shadow.”
We follow the life of Stephen through a transitory phase of his life over three summers after graduating high school. Lost in his own small world, Stephen tries to build a world where he intends to protect himself, his community, and his music. The influence of music is evident in every word and phrase, producing immensely beautiful prose that flows and captures your heart.
“Our music is undeniable. I’ve only ever known myself in song, between notes, in that place where language won’t suffice but the drums might, might speak for us, might speak for what is on our hearts, and in this moment, as the music gathers pace, looping round once more, passing frenzy, approaching ecstasy, all my dance moves are my father’s.”
Caleb is particularly adept at illuminating the flow of intimacy, vulnerability, grief, and pain. However, I found myself sometimes distracted by the repetitive phrase, this has more to do with the fact that I thought there was going to be a lot of depth to the plot as compared to 'open water', but I think the author has sought to define himself with this writing style and I appreciate the lyricality of the prose.
“Many of us gathered have long lost our faith but we do believe in rhythm. We do believe in the ability of a four-minute cut to stretch time until it is unrecognizable, each second its own forever.”
Small Worlds is a vibrant sequel. I loved how Caleb examines what it means to feel comfortable and secure in who we are, where we came from, and eventually where we're going, and ideally how we carve out and create our own spaces for ourselves.
Thank you, Grove Atlantic, Grove Press for the ARC.
Thank you NetGalley for approving me to read an early copy of this book!
TW/CW: police brutality (brief), death, grief
I continue to be in awe of Caleb Azumah Nelson’s ability to weave together a story that makes you feel all the things at once.
Small Worlds tackles grief, familial relationships, and more. It is beautifully written and very lyrical. Repetitive at times but with intention which strengths the story.
Chapter 50 was one of the most beautiful chapters I’ve ever read. He wove together multiple storylines in a way I’ve rarely seen done. I’ll be thinking about that chapter and the way this book ended for a long time.
I enjoyed reading this book and can’t wait to see what the authors mind comes up with next!
I was so excited to read this bc I’ve been hearing positive reviews about the writer’s debut but I gotta say his second book fell short. Sure, it’s written so beautifully, but it’s also so painfully slow paced… it feels as if the writer focused on being poetic instead of the plot… bc the premise is pretty simple, a young man who struggles to find his own rhythm after his small world was disrupted by the reality of the big world out there, pretty much like every other YA books. But one of the things that I admire about the book is though I never knew what it feels like to be an immigrant or minorities who rely on the community, the writer delivers it well, so that I kinda have the idea what it feels like and how important it is for them; how significant their small world is for them. And I kinda envy them, bc I never had it.. I never knew what it’s like to feel like you belong… where everyone knows you and shares the same struggle as you. And I suppose it’s beautiful and somehow makes life a whole lot easier.
“…the dead never leave. They’re in the slink of our hips, the swing of our limbs, in our whispers, our screams, our ecstasy.”
Thank you Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Small Worlds tells the story of finding your home, your people, your culture, your groove and staying in that small world for as long as you can. And what happens when those worlds crash down around you. How systemic racism will always find its way into your small world to dismantle it completely. How depression will always find its way into your small world and break you down with loneliness. How trauma is passed down and so deeply ingrained we don’t even realize we’ve inherited it. So we dance our way through it all as best as we can in the groove we’ve found. We sit in the anger we sit in the hurt we let pain take over to remind ourselves to never forget.
Much like Open Water there is a poetic prose using musical references to tell the story. The way he portrays love and desire and other intense human emotions, making you also feel them deep within you. I enjoy the fact that he captures so perfectly how parents are fully autonomous beings as well and how they have full lives before entering parenthood which very often mirror closely the lives their children end up a part of, that was done beautifully. As well as the way joy and horror are so closely intertwined. Figuring out how and why we as humans are the way we are whether it’s inherited traumas or simply how are day to day life impacts us. We find a way to dance through it creating safe spaces for others like us small worlds for us to stay in. Caleb Azumah Nelson is a force to be reckoned with and continues to be an auto buy/auto read author for me.
Small Worlds
The worst thing about getting some ARCs, mainly soft copies, is that if I love them, I will be relentless in figuring out the right time to buy the physical book because I HAVE TO HAVE IT ON MY SHELF.
‘Small Worlds’ joins the few books that have done this to me. While I own a physical copy of ‘Open Water’ and held onto it despite getting rid of many books last year, ‘Small Worlds’ has done much better.
While ‘Open Water’ touched upon the themes of colonisation and how the white world sees black men, ‘Small Worlds’ went deeper into those themes, relationships being more fleshed out and real while retaining the poetic beauty of the language.
Initially, when the novel starts, Stephen is waiting for his university acceptance letter and finally goes to college far from home, away from his small world of people and places he knows and loves. His loneliness is palpable, and he goes home when he can’t bear it any longer. His father tells him, like all immigrant parents, about how hard he has worked only for him to quit college. Stephen, though, is a musician; the older man initially doesn’t seem to understand him. The age-old fight, none of them wrong.
Stephen is a second-generation immigrant from Ghana to London. His way of life and how his body responds to dance; food and culture come alive beautifully and play the chords of disharmony to perfection.
In the book, Stephen goes to Ghana and visits Cape Coast Castle, one of the 40 ’slave castles’ used to hold enslaved Africans before they were shipped to the Americas. The guide shows him the ‘gate of no return’, after which point the person has lost his name and personhood forever and is a commodity. The conditions in which millions of enslaved people were stuffed in dark, airless slave holes for weeks until they were shipped. How have I not heard of these horrific places all over African coasts, while at the same time, I have been to places like ‘Dachau’ and felt the pain of people there? This sort of painful ancestral history can never leave a person.
While the novel talks about a father-son relationship, this creeps up unexpectedly, and this was a very human and relatable read and Caleb Azumah Nelson is probably one of the few men who write women so so sensitively. I loved it.
Caleb Azumah Nelson does it again, stunning, I LOVED it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an advance copy, I will definitely be recommending.
thank u net galley & grove for the arc <3
GOOD GRIEF. this is such a good book. i am so obsessed w/ azumah nelsons brain its not even funny.
this book made me cry, which is rare for me. the writing was gorgeous, the characters were lovable and complicated and so very human. loved the food descriptions, loved the exploration of family dynamics and what is passed down to us from our parents and their parents and so on. i realized while finishing this that caleb azumah nelson writes so well about love, whether it's romantic, familial, a love for beauty, art, music, food, a love even found in moments where we're grieving, losing sight of ourselves. whatever it may be, he just writes about it so lyrically and captures those little moments (small worlds?) so dang well.
hes got a forever fan in me <3
'i am in the eye of a moshpit. i am in my mother's kitchen. i am the ebb and flow of the ocean. i am the beach disappeared by the tide. i am the breath between notes. i am the silence.'
wow wow wow. caleb azumah nelson does it again! just like 'open water', 'small worlds' is so poetic and beautiful. it is a loveletter to culture, to home, to family, to friends.
I have yet to come across another author like Caleb. There is no one out there who does it quite like him.
His quiet and delicate approach to the stories and characters he allows to grow through each page, the way he patiently allows them to explain their deepest fears and insecurities which prohibit them from opening up to those who they love, and of how he sensitively but passionately approaches topics such as police brutality, and the ways in which the endless stories we read about can fracture and break down a community surrounded in love & familiarity. Reading his words feels like you’re being transported into his world where there is only room for music, love, passion & joy. A world I am desperate to never leave.
Stephen, our protagonist, lives and breathes dancing. He has found a sanctuary which allows him to express both the anger and joy he feels, through the melodies and rhythms he and his friends are able to create. When I think of Stephen and this novel, I think of SAULT and their song ‘Free’. I can picture Stephen dancing in a club with his friends, and Del, raising their hands euphorically and swaying to the sounds of Cleo Sol. Dancing to the joy of being young.
As much as dancing leaves room for him to be himself, this also creates an unwavering tension in his relationship with his father, who believes Stephen is disgracing him for not chasing after something more tangible like education, particularly when, as his father said, he sacrificed so much in coming to England to carve out a future for his family. The relationship which unfolds between Stephen and his father is a difficult one, but one in which many people I’m sure will familiarise with.
Caleb truly has a gift and I’m so glad he has chosen to share it with us as readers. I cannot wait to see this play out on screen and see Caleb get the flowers he deserves.
A quiet and nuanced portrait of a fascinating character, and a beautiful love story woven in. I was blown away by the writing on this one - poetic and simple. A stunning read, I loved it.
Small World by Caleb Azumah Nelson
Small Worlds tells the story of Stephen, who has only ever known himself in a song. Stephen’s small world is made up of his family and friends. Divided into two parts and set over the course of three summers in Stephen’s life, Small Worlds is a novel about the worlds we build for ourselves and the worlds we live in.
Review:
The dedication reads “For Mum and Pops, for J and J, for Es, my own small world”
Through the author's writing and use of language, Azumah Nelson weaves interconnected stories about family and friends - what makes our small world. The author takes the reader on a journey, unfolding Stephen’s story over three summers. As the reader progresses through the book, we gain a greater understanding of Stephen's small world and transitional period.
In the first part “Two Young People in the Summertime” the author presents Stephen trying to figure out his future as a musician, a romantic relationship with Del and life after graduating High School. In this first part, the reader learns about Stephen’s parents - their life in Ghana and migration to the UK.
A pivotal part of the storytelling of Small Worlds is music. It is not because Stephen is a musician, but because the music describes each character and their pivotal moments.
Another thing I loved is the use of the Ghanaian Language - Ga to describe the depth the language possesses. “Homo Ye Mi, Etomi - Hunger has taken me. I am weary to the depths of my being”. Whenever Ghanaian food is mentioned in the book, I literally felt my mouth water.
The book is intense, raw, and breathtaking written in a poetic prose form. The book has a way of drawing the reader in. It's a heavy pull into Stephen’s small world.
I enjoyed the relationships explored in the book - father-mother, mother-son, father-son, brother (Raymond and Stephen), romantic relationship ( Del-Stephen), Mother-Auntie Yaa, Auntie Yaa - Stephen, and lastly the discovery of self (who Stephen was when he was alone). The father-son relationship explored in the book is honest and vulnerable.
This is my first 5-star read of the year and I highly recommend it.
Here are my favourite quotes
I pray then, like I’ve never prayed before asking not for money, or a job, but that this new world I’m building for myself, I ask that it be constructed from peace.
Grief never ends, but we find a way to walk in the light someone has left behind, rather than living in pain’s shadow.
To sleep with grief is not to sleep at all.
And because anger is close to love, I go there.
It feels like a quiet life, but it's mine. I’ve tried to build my own small world in the vastness, and it's helping: I’m feeling more and more like the person I was or the person I might become.
Thank you netgalley for this ARC!
Omg caleb does it again. Another beautifully written novel i requested this one because i also read the ARC for open water which also was an amazing book please never stop writing books caleb the penship and the writing in your novels is beautiful.
This book had so much stuff from grief, loss,heartbreak,friendships family dynamics, culture EVERYTHING this book did not disappoint it followed so many storylines and i loved so many of them. I also loved the music aspect in this novel which i assume is the big message behind this book how music gets us through so many things in life and how so many of us in our little worlds rely on music for different things and how it also brings us all together in many ways from heartbreak grief or just to have an amazing time with friends and family music will always be there when we need it. I cant tell you how many characters i loved in this novel the author always writes such beautiful characters and always has the reader going through so many emotions during his stories always touching down on important topics in society. This book made me smile at times made me sad at times but overall made me realize how beautiful this piece of work is! I look forward to many more books from this author i love love the writing. I also love that this book took you too different places as well as you read and all the foods sounded delicious.
Yall read this one it was so good.
Set over three defining summers in the protagonist's life, Small Worlds has the same charm and pull as Open Water. For me, it's actually the better, stronger story; the writer's storytelling skills have certainly matured. The prose can still be a little too repetitive, but because this book has a much clearer narrative arc, it doesn't negatively impact the story like it did (for me) in the latter half of his debut offering. The author's voice is smooth, poetic, and has the uncanny knack of voicing complex feelings so many of us feel but are unable to sufficiently articulate.
Highly recommended for readers that enjoy Black coming-of-age, exploratory stories about identity, father-son dynamics, immigrant life, racism, belonging, and more. As with Open Water, music plays a pivotal role in Small Worlds.
This was a really beautiful book covering so many topics we can all relate to romantic and parental love told through music, food, connection and ultimately finding freedom and acceptance. It's poetically written and takes you on a journey throughout an early adulthood of figuring out where you fit in the world.
The only issue from me was the frequent repetition of lines representing themes of the book, including repeating the title many times. I get that we're trying to convey a message throughout but it felt a little like being spoonfed when it was repeating so frequently. I think without having that so often, I'd have no fault in this lovely little book.
I am once again under the spell of the incredible writing of Caleb Azumah Nelson. The words are so accurate, it resonates a lot with me. Her way of talking about family, love, finding your place, being part of a community, etc. He inspires me enormously, he is one of my biggest literary favorites in recent years, this author. It is a privilege to be able to read these words and that he shares this vulnerability with us, I feel lucky to discover them. There are really sentences that come out of the book to get inside me, it's a very strange and restorative feeling at the same time. I have the impression of rediscovering a lot of my experience and things that make sense. The number of tears shed...
I truly have no complaints. The characters, the pacing, the story, the music, the writing, the ending. The couple typos that inevitably popped up due to it being an advanced copy just made the story feel more intimate overall. I don't know how it could get better but I'll be there to check when this book comes out, and to supplement this review with a million quotes and excerpts. Thank you for reading and go preorder this book.
Thanks to Penguin General UK - Fig Tree, Hamish Hamilton, Viking, Penguin Life, Penguin Business and Netgalley for provinding me with this Book!
I loved this book! I absolutely adored Caleb Azuman Nelson's debut novel, Open Water, and so I was incredibly excited when I heard that his second book, Small Worlds, was due out this year. Despite my (very) high expectations, I was certainly not disappointed and I daresay that I loved Small Worlds even more than I did Open Water!
This is by far one of the most beautiful books I've ever read. Small Worlds is a gorgeously written story about growing up, the art and beauty of music and dance, and the power of love in all its forms - familial, romantic and platonic. The prose itself is lyrical, reading like a music of its own - it has its own rhythm and its own melody, and it truly is a joy to behold. Small Worlds is almost like an open love letter to music, thoughtfully and movingly depicting how music can bring us closer to our roots and our community and provide us with a sense of belonging; how music allows us to express our emotions and encourages us to feel deeply; and how music can restore and save us when we feel lost.
Quite honestly, I loved everything about this book. Genuinely touching, poignant and so very powerful, Small Worlds has confirmed that Caleb Azumah Nelson is one of the most unique and exciting contemporary voices out there.