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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.
Author: Sean Hewitt
Hardcover Published 15 April 2025 224 Page
Read and Reviewed by Graeme
"Seán Hewitt began his literary career as a poet with several volumes, followed by a memoir (All Down Darkness Wide) in 2022, and now he has produced one of the most beautiful books you will have read in years. It captures the ache of gay adolescent desire and longing with a vivid emotional intensity, while unfolding the narrative in lyrical, tender prose. The novel opens with James looking back on his life after the failure of his marriage. A real estate notice captures his eye, and he feels compelled to return to the village where he grew up. It was there twenty years earlier, that he first fell in love with a fervency that he has never shaken free of entirely. Luke, slightly older, infinitely more worldly and confident, has been bundled off to his uncle’s farm after some trouble with his parents - his father sent to prison, while his mother has disappeared to France for another man. Slowly over the course of a year, and four seasons, the two boys draw closer, but it is a tentative halting journey. Luke is lonely and hurt, damaged by the loss of his parents, particularly his father; while James is consumed by the depth of his feelings for Luke, yet too unsure of himself to act or to take a liberty that might be rebuffed. This slow dance is set against the vivid beauty of nature, and it is here that the poet’s eye excels, capturing the detail of the English rural landscape in dazzling prose. The novel gradually draws to a climax when James must choose between an important commitment to his family or a spontaneous invitation that promises greater intimacy with Luke. This novel of first love and loss is so exquisitely rendered it will likely bring a tear to the eye of some readers and linger in the mind long after it is finished."