Open Water, Azumah Nelson’s debut, was my favorite book I read last year, so I was incredibly excited to read another novel from him. Small Worlds contains many similar themes and also revolves around a couple navigating the twists and turns of young love. Here, I especially loved the exploration of the often-fraught and always-fragile relationship between Stephen and his father, Eric. I would have liked to see a deeper dive into their relationship, or more chapters written from Eric’s POV. My biggest issue with Small Worlds was, surprisingly, the prose. What was a lovely and glowing high point in Open Water felt unfocused and, at times, overwrought in this book. I look forward to reading more from Azumah Nelson and seeing how he grows as a writer.

This is a lyrical coming-of-age story steeped in familial and intergenerational trauma, brotherhood, music, racism, migration, marginalization, community, and intimacy.

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.

Small Worlds has a more vibrant storyline. 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.

Small Worlds by Caleb Azumah Nelson is a romance/cultural tale about Stephen, an - at the start of the novel - 18 year old Ghanaian-British boy trying to find his place in the world. We follow his journey in life over three summers in the early 2010's, dealing with love, family and culture.

Although I've seen some negative reviews, I really enjoyed this novel myself. The writing style is beautiful but still very comprehensible. The story itself is joyful at some moments and honest and heartbreaking at others. I really like how completely human the characters are. They make mistakes and hurt each other, but you understand why they do it and you can't really blame them when you know what they've gone through. I haven't read Nelson's debut novel "Open Water" yet, but I'm definitely running to my local library to pick it up as soon as I've finished writing this review.

I was very excited to read this book after how much i loved the the authors debut reading it twice within a year. The book didn’t disappoint although i didn’t love it as much open water. Small worlds reads like music and feels like a summers so hot you will need shower multiple times a day, young love/infatuation, and big family gatherings.

This is a story about embracing your roots, family history, the past and the present. It is not only about a young man struggling as a child of immigrants from Ghana in the UK today, it is about him connecting his life through stories of his parents' lives, through visiting Ghana and learning where they came from, connecting his life here today with his family and friends. It is important to learn about the past because it keeps repeating: on a political, social level (the riots, inequality) and on an individual, personal level (the absence of closeness between fathers and sons).
Life seen through music, through dance. I specially liked the importance of (every) summer in the novel. Summer is not only a time of the year, but also a place. Summer is a place of freedom, childhood, comfort, music.
A quiet, slow, delicate, melancholic novel, beautifully written, filled with true, subtle emotion. A story about growing up, coming of age, becoming mature, finding and getting to know yourself.

This book is more than a novel, more than prose. It is rhythm and vibe and heart and raw emotion, packaged and bundled in ink and paper.

It is a character study of a young British man of Ghanaian heritage, Stephen, coming of age, full of angst and trepidation and love, moved and inspired by music, dancing, and cooking. He takes note, commits to memory moments with those he cherishes, their intimacies that hold them together in their own small worlds where they feel belonging and connection.

He paints a portrait of Britain in the 90s and early 2000s, the violence that police perpetrated against people of color, and how this impacts him, his family, and his friends. They all long for a place where they can feel connected together while also truly free to be. Stephen works toward building that place, both tangibly and spiritually, for himself and his loved ones.

The fraught relationship with his father is a focal point of the novel. Its moving culmination is underscored with a change of perspective that drew me in, answered questions, and broke and mended my heart with its bittersweetness.

There is also romance and true love, complex and messy but beautiful.

The author reiterates certain phrases throughout, like verses of a song or poem. This stylistic choice lent the book a song-like quality and reflected some of the book's themes.

I received a DRC from Grove Atlantic, Grove Press, and Netgalley. I also listened to the audiobook and wow, hearing the author read the poetic passages himself was a fantastic way to take it in. His voice actually breaks with emotion in two spots at the very end and hearing that felt like the author was sharing a moment with the reader, bringing us into this small world he created with text and voice.

I loved Open Water (see my prior post), but I think I felt even more with this book. Highly recommend for folks who are interested in experimental prose, character studies, coming of age stories, immigrant perspectives, and stories focused on the experiences of Black and Brown people in White-majority societies.

Thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for this read. This good was good right from the start and it kept getting better as I read on. The writing was very. poetic and easy to like.

This has been on my TBR for ages - thanks to Net Galley for the ARC!

We follow Stephen, a Ghanian Londoner, as he transitions to adult life, navigating intergenerational trauma, mental health issues and the daunting question of ‘what next?’ Music is an escape and a solace amidst everything.

I liked how it switched to the father’s perspective towards the end of the book, but otherwise, this didn’t really grab me. I don’t know why, maybe this just wasn’t a book for me.

POETIC!

I'm convinced that Caleb Azumah Nelson has a penchant for the poetic. For the brilliant. For creating words that come together masterfully and sing like poetry as you absorb them. I was floored and blown away by his debut novel and Small Worlds hit just has deep, in its on space and time. In it, we follow Londoner Stephen who has come to a very critical point in his life. Born to Ghanaian parents, Stephen feels pressured to follow the path that his parents have helped create for him. What they don't understand, however is just how much music is his first love and his reason. When he decides he will follow his passion, it creates a rift that changes him forever. In this way, Small Worlds is a coming of age story complete with highs and lows, love and loss, identity searching, community building and finding a safe place in which to have peace, freedom and love flowing.

I loved the infusion of music all throughout from different genres and time periods. It's truly a beautiful rendering and one I recommend that you read. Thanks to NetGalley for a e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4.5/5

3 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an opportunity to read this masterpiece earlier than expected. Before, I actually wished for July to come fast so I can read Small Worlds immediately and have my thoughts all over Goodreads.

There is just something about Nelson’s writing that makes you feel free, hopeful, and joyous. The way he writes about intimacy, rhythm, music, and grief makes his books so well-written. His lines about grief and, of course, music has me in awe because NO ONE, no one writes like that. I think the only part in this book that didn’t persuade me to give this a 4 is because it was anticlimactic and I wanted more.

In comparison to Open Water, which I thoroughly loved, Nelson’s writing here has improved and outgrown Open Water’s. But Small Worlds cannot come close to the feeling and intimacy Open Water gave me.

I love how this book encourages us to be better by being more open—open to the people we love, trust, and honor. Reading about the main character find his space was amazing. This was truly iconic and I loved it.

Caleb Azumah Nelson has done it again! Written with the beautiful prose that readers come to expect, he writes the story of Stephen a young Ghanese-British man finishing school and moving to the Midlands to study, It tackles a range of issues including police violence, depression, first love, loss, family, exploring ones roots and father son relationships.

My only criticism of this is that it is too similar to his first novel Open Water.

It took me a little bit to get into this, but once I was, I was hooked. This has beautiful writing and really transports you into the story.

I am disappointed to say that SMALL WORLDS was not for me, which is unfortunate as I really enjoyed Nelson's debut novella. This novel was a slog to get through - I wanted to DNF it several times - because of the uneven pacing and overly contemplative story, which at times chose to focus on the most boring minute details over the meat of the plot. Meanwhile the writing, which I had found so poetic and enjoyable in the author's previous work, did not stand out to me. The sum of the uninteresting parts thus created a book that I did not particularly enjoy, despite the very real themes and relevant issues it raised and explored.

Caleb Azumah Nelson’s sophomore novel, Small Worlds does not disappoint. Readers and fans of Nelson’s debut, Open Water can breathe a sigh of relief and continue to look forward to Small Worlds with high hopes!

Small Worlds is lyrical and emotive. In Nelson’s signature manner, the writing in Small Worlds is poetic with emphasis on repeated phrases that feel quite wholesome while simultaneously reminding the reader that everything will be alright in this small world of ours.

Small Worlds follows Stephen’s life as he navigates identity, love, intimacy, passion vs profession and above all the complex relationship between immigrant parents and their hopes for their intersectional children. Small Worlds is about the cocoon we build for ourselves, how we leave the world that our parent’s and ancestors built to add to it, to transform, to love and to become. It is about the significance of our small world and the realization that the world of the person next to you could be vastly different, connected in some small or big way to you, connecting us through art and music and love and culture and race.

A significant storyline in this novel is one that navigates Stephen and his father’s relationship. Nelson describes how Stephen’s Ghanaian-British father has ambitions for his children, how he does not share his past with his children, how Stephen does not know what his father’s dreams were or his struggles before he came to London. The immigrant father urge to show absolutely no emotions and to say things that often break children in half, that make them feel unloved and disposable. The lack of warmth and communication is transforming. Often, all it takes is talking freely.

Small Worlds is the type of book that you realize you needed to read as you’re reading it.

Thank you #GroveAtlantic, #CalebAzumahNelson & #Netgalley for this e-ARC of #SmallWorlds. The book is available in North America on July 18th, 2023!

I went into Small Worlds with some trepidation. Nelson's debut, Open Water, came out in 2021 and was a perfect match for that particular moment: a politically astute novella about a young Black man living the in world where police violence can upend life in an instant. I wasn't a fan of the prose in Open Water - it felt clumsy, like Nelson was trying too hard to sound poetic - but I was willing to forgive the over-earnestness in a debut that was relatively short and on point. My fear that Small Worlds would be more of the same proved to be correct. The forced prose is back with a vengeance. What I was willing to overlook in a debut feels less forgivable now. Small Worlds is also longer than Open Water and is less urgent. Much of the book lives in the world of angsty teenagers, which I'm just not interested in at all. The story is also propelled by a palpable heterosexual energy that can feel a bit on the nose. This certainly wasn't the worst thing I read this year and plenty of smart readers rate this highly. It just didn’t work for me. Many thanks to the US publisher, Grove Press, for making a review copy available in advance of publication.

Small Worlds is the solidification of Caleb Azumah Nelson’s status as one of the greatest new voices in literature.

I was absolutely astonished by Nelson’s debut novel, Open Water, when I read it back in 2021. I have basically been shoving it at anyone who will read it, and I plan on doing the same with this novel.

Small Worlds is set over the course of three summers, details the complicated relationship between a father and son, and is a glorious and beautiful testament to dancing, the intimacy and wonder of shared moments, and the experience of a man torn between two countries he calls home. The plot is somewhat meandering at times, but is engaging purely upon the execution of its themes and its absolutely gorgeous prose.

If you are looking for a novel that reads like a poem, with lines that will leave you in awe at the beauty of the world, please pick this up! I adored it.

“Gentle storytelling” is the first thing that comes to mind while reading this book. The writing is poetic, yet the plot is somewhat sparse: the book never lingers where it’s not needed, takes its time when the characters call for it. There are recurring themes and terms that help to create a universe—a small world?—to lose yourself in. Slightly heavy-handed at times with the self-reference, but that’s the only negative for me. The music, the food, the dancing, it’s all so beautiful. I could not recommend this book more, and can’t wait to read his first, which I still haven’t gotten around to.

There is little new to learn about the immigrant experience in Small Worlds. It does not explore unfamiliar, unknown ground. The protagonist has no dreams for his future that isn’t experienced in many coming of age stories. The protagonist, Stephen, born in England to Ghanian parents, articulates a story universal to immigrants everywhere in the world. He wants to find his place in the world where he is accepted and free to be himself.

However, what sets it apart from other similar stories is how it is absorbed through the senses. I would describe it as an exquisite meditation on the immigrant experience. While at times the language was over the top, for the most part I felt I was like I was in a boat, gently rocked through rich imagery and the distinctive repetition of a ballad.

As the book opens, Stephen is on the cusp of change. As is common, his Ghanian father has specific expectations for him. He emigrated with his own big dreams that were crushed by typical impediments. He transferred his hopes to his son, perhaps altered as he accommodated his expectations to the reality of being an outsider.

Stephen has had a happy life. He grows up in an insular Ghanian community in the Peckham neighborhood of London. It is deeply entrenched in the rituals, traditions, food and dancing of Ghana. When together, there is joy and deep bonds. These strong and loving connections of friends and extended family were critical to negotiate the disappointments, poverty, and prejudice experienced in their new homeland. Their goals are transferred to their children.

Stephen grows up feeling safe, if not somewhat insecure, within this net. He is all about music and dancing. Dancing frees him and gives him happiness to his core. He is a musician, a trumpeter, who hopes to win a scholarship to study and make music his life’s work.

When his dream deflates, the story begins to take shape. He leaves the girl he loves to go to university to study the accounting mandated by his father and is ill equipped to succeed in this unfamiliar world. The first time away from what he knows and loves, unable to connect to this course of study, make friends, or keep his girl who by the way did get that music scholarship.

Told in three parts, we journey with Stephen as he flounders. Heartbroken, disillusioned, disconnected and at risk of violence as a black man in England, we travel with Stephen back to his old neighborhood and then to Ghana, to explore his roots. This is a grounding experience for him that helps him upon his return.

It is not a novel with much action. In fact, it is extremely slow moving and at times repetitive. But I was sucked in by the beautiful language.

A description of his grief:

The mourning is immediate. I open my mouth to call for someone but there is no voice, no rhythm, no music. I open my mouth to call for someone, but there is no one there to tend my grief. I open my mouth to call for someone but the world is quiet now. I’m all alone.

Admittedly, I was disadvantaged because there was reference on almost every page to songs I was mostly unfamiliar with. If the reader knows the music, they would really be in tune with Stephen’s emotions enriching the reading experience.

Although the narrative is tightly focused, the political racial reality seeps in. Most obviously in the police murder of Mark Duggan in 2011 and the bloody protests and police violence that followed. The prejudice is there throughout but only to make you aware of that additional dimension of struggle.

If you are in the mood to slow down, this is a fascinating read. The emphasis is put on the repetitive day to day rather than the big events. While the reader will savor in detail and almost be able to smell Stephen’s mother cooking favorite dishes later replicated by her son, an event that turns the story may be reduced to a paragraph.

The author, Caleb Azumah Nelson, has already won many honors. His short story, “Pray,” was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award and his debut novel, Open Water, won the Costa First Novel Award, the British Book Award for Debut Fiction. In an interview last month in Open County Mag, he said, “I wanted to take my sentences past this thing of knowledge and more toward feeling.”

Indeed he does.

I loved Nelson’s poetic writing style and enjoyed following the main character Stephen through his coming-of-age story. I thought it was unique that Nelson set the book within three summers of the main character’s life. I loved the different themes explored within this novel, such as complex family relationships, loneliness, etc. However, I sometimes found it difficult to follow the story because it felt very clunky and hurried.

Caleb Azumah Nelson is a treasure. This book was amazing. It left me thinking and going back over it far after I turned the last page.. What a book. I will read anything Nelson writes.