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by Seán Hewitt
A stunning debut novel from the acclaimed young Irish poet Seán Hewitt, reminiscent of Garth Greenwell and Justin Torres in the intensity of its evocation of sexual awakening Set in a remote village in the north of England, Open, Heaven unfolds over the course of one year in which two teenage boys meet and transform each other’s lives. James—a sheltered, shy sixteen-year-old—is alone in his newly discovered sexuality, full of an unruly desire but entirely inexperienced. As he is beginning to understand himself and his longings, he also realizes how his feelings threaten to separate him from his family and the rural community he has grown up in. He dreams of another life, fantasizing about what lies beyond the village’s leaf-ribboned boundaries, beyond his reach: autonomy, tenderness, sex. Then, in the autumn of 2002, he meets Luke, a slightly older boy, handsome, unkempt, who comes with a reputation for danger. Abandoned by his parents—his father imprisoned, and his mother having moved to France for another man—Luke has been sent to live with his aunt and uncle on their farm just outside the village. James is immediately drawn to him "like the pull a fire makes on the air, dragging things into it and blazing them into its hot, white centre," drawn to this boy who is beautiful and impulsive, charismatic, troubled. But underneath Luke’s bravado is a deep wound—a longing for the love of his father and for the stability of family life. Open, Heaven is a novel about desire, yearning, and the terror of first love. With the striking economy and lyricism that animate his work as a poet, Hewitt has written a mesmerizing hymn to boyhood, sensuality, and love in all its forms. A truly exceptional debut.
10 recommendations similar to Open, Heaven
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by Seán Hewitt
As Hewitt's debut poetry collection, this book shares the exact same lyrical intensity and preoccupation with the intersection of nature, queer desire, and spirituality found in Open, Heaven. It establishes the visceral, elegiac voice that defines his later work, focusing on the body's relationship to the natural world.
by Seán Hewitt
This memoir serves as a prose companion to Hewitt's poetry, exploring the same themes of grief, haunting, and the weight of memory. Readers who appreciate the vulnerable, haunted atmosphere of his poems will find the same emotional depth in this exploration of love and mental illness.
by Ocean Vuong
Like Hewitt, Vuong utilizes a highly sensory and lyrical style to navigate themes of queer identity, family legacy, and the physical body. Both poets possess a rare ability to blend the violent with the beautiful, creating a deeply resonant and atmospheric reading experience.
by Ocean Vuong
This novel's prose is so poetic and rhythmic that it mirrors the structural beauty of Hewitt's verse. It deals extensively with the themes of inheritance, the transformative power of language, and the vulnerability of the queer body in a harsh world.
by Louise Glück
Glück’s use of the natural world as a lens for exploring the divine and the mortal mirrors Hewitt’s own botanical and spiritual motifs. Fans of Hewitt's ability to find the 'heavenly' in the earthly will appreciate Glück's stark, philosophical, and deeply atmospheric poems.
Siken’s poetry shares the same visceral, obsessive, and cinematic intensity found in Hewitt’s more passionate sequences. Both authors explore the boundaries of the self and the consuming nature of desire through startling, physical imagery.
This memoir blends nature writing with a profound exploration of grief in a way that echoes Hewitt's thematic preoccupations. The focus on the wild as a space for processing human loss and the meticulous, beautiful prose will deeply satisfy Hewitt's readers.
by Ada Limón
Limón explores the body, vulnerability, and the natural world with a clarity and emotional resonance that matches Hewitt's style. Her work often finds the sacred in the mundane, a central tenet of the 'Open, Heaven' ethos.
While much longer, this novel shares the same unflinching look at trauma, the redemptive power of male friendship, and the intense emotional landscape that Hewitt navigates. It matches the 'dark' and 'intense' vibes that characterize Hewitt's more somber reflections.
Kaminsky’s work uses a unique narrative structure and lyrical power to explore political and personal silence. Like Hewitt, he elevates the physical and the sensory to a level of mythic importance, creating a haunting and unforgettable atmosphere.
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