Caleb Azumah Nelson's debut novel 'Open Water' explores Black identity through a London love story

Caleb Azumah Nelson's first novel 'Open Water' examines themes of perception and identity through a relationship between a photographer and a dancer in South London. The narrative employs a distinctive first-person perspective that alternates between 'I' and 'you', creating ambiguity between individual and collective experience. This stylistic choice reflects how urban environments like London view Black identity while fostering reader solidarity. The protagonist acknowledges a conflict between self-perception and how others see him, particularly as a Black man navigating power structures. The story addresses everything from everyday moments to police stop-and-search tactics, exploring the gap between internal identity and external perception. Love offers characters some comfort with this divide, though complete reconciliation remains elusive. Nelson, who is both a writer and photographer, skillfully merges form and content to create what he describes as 'a kind of schizophrenia boiled down to a possessive pronoun'. The novel's exploration of what it means to be young, creative, male, British and Black provides readers with immersive insight into these experiences.