Open, Heaven

When James meets Luke, everything changes - an exhilarating tale of hidden desire and sudden freedom in the wild countryside.THE INSTANT TOP 10 IRISH BESTSELLER<BR>DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE LONGLIST 2026<BR><BR>'An achingly beautiful story of first love' GUARDIAN<BR>'Superb... Transcendent' SARAH PERRY<BR>'Beautifully written, deeply felt' MICHAEL MAGEE<BR>'Heart-rending... Propulsive' FINANCIAL TIMES<BR><BR>James dreams of another life far away from his small village. Almost an adult, his newfound desires threaten to unravel his shy exterior. Then he meets Luke. Unkempt and handsome, charismatic and impulsive, he has been sent to stay with his aunt and uncle on a nearby farm.<BR><BR>With the passing seasons, a bond emerges between them that transforms their lives. Yet James is never sure of Luke's true feelings and as the end of summer nears, he has a choice to make: will he risk everything for the possibility of love?<BR><BR>*A Book of the Year for the Guardian, Observer, Irish Times and BBC*<BR><BR>READERS LOVE OPEN, HEAVEN<BR>'My favourite book of the year'<BR>'Gorgeous. I was completely transported'<BR>'The intoxicating rush of first love. Five stars!'<BR>'Breathtakingly beautiful. A story that stays with you'<BR>'Heart-breaking but also triumphant. A must-read'<BR>'The most truthful novel about love<BR>that I have read in a long time'<BR><BR>'It made my heart hurt in the best ways' HELEN MACDONALD<BR><BR>'Hewitt writes with such tenderness and grace' ANNE ENRIGHT<BR><BR>'Desire, yearning, fear... Intensely vivid' IRISH TIMES<BR><BR>'Gorgeous... Piercing, intimate and euphoric' COLIN WALSH<BR><BR>'Seán Hewitt is the real deal' BENJAMIN MYERS<BR><BR>Open, Heaven was an Irish top ten bestseller w/c 28 April 2025<BR>

A stunning novel from the acclaimed young Irish poet Seán Hewitt, a luminous and intensely evocative portrayal of two teeneagers bonding with each other over one heady, transformative year. <BR><BR>"[Open, Heaven] is a searching novel orbiting pleasure, loss, and the ecstatic release of both; which is to say it’s a novel about time. Which is to say it’s a novel about us." —Kaveh Akbar, author of Martyr!<BR><BR>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.<BR><BR>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.<BR><BR>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.

Eine Hymne auf die Überwältigung, die es bedeutet, jung zu seinJames steht an einer Schwelle, bald ist er erwachsen. Und er träumt von einem anderen Leben weit weg: das Dorf hinter sich lassen, die Eltern enttäuschen, dem allen endlich irgendwas Lebendiges, Echtes entgegensetzen. Denn hier in verschlafenen Thornmere im Norden Englands bleibt immer alles beim Alten, seine Runde als Milchjunge, die Gottesdienste, die ewigen Sorgen um seinen kranken kleinen Bruder, die Ausgrenzung der Mitschüler. Doch dann trifft James im Herbst 2002 auf Luke - ein Jahr älter, unverschämt gutaussehend, von seinen verkrachten Eltern zur Disziplinierung aufs Land verschickt - und im Laufe eines Jahres liefert sich James neuen, unkontrollierbaren Kräften aus, einer Sehnsucht, die ihn für immer verändern, einer Frage, die ihn sein Leben lang verfolgen wird: Würde ich alles riskieren für die Möglichkeit der Liebe?Ein poetischer Roman über das Verlangen der Jugend, über die Zärtlichkeiten, Albträume und Illusionen namens Liebe. Mit den beeindruckenden sprachlichen Mitteln eines großen Dichters bestimmt Seán Hewitt das Gewicht unserer Obsessionen.

A luminous memoir from the prize-winning poet - a story of love, heartbreak and coming of age, and a tender exploration of queer identity.<BR><BR>'Beautiful' Colm Tóibín<BR>'Rapturous' New York Times<BR>'Extraordinary' Observer<BR>'Stunning' Sunday Times<BR><BR>When Seán meets Elias, the two fall headlong into a love story. But as Elias struggles with severe depression, the couple comes face to face with crisis.<BR><BR>Wrestling with this, Seán Hewitt delves deep into his own history, enlisting the ghosts of queer figures and poets before him. From a nineteenth-century cemetery in Liverpool to the pine forests of Gothenburg, Hewitt plumbs the darkness in search of solace and hope.<BR><BR>All Down Darkness Wide is a mesmerising story of heartache and renewal, and a fearless exploration of a world that too often sets happiness and queer life at odds.<BR><BR>WINNER OF THE ROONEY PRIZE FOR IRISH LITERATURE 2022<BR><BR>'Extraordinarily beautiful... the best new work of non-fiction I've read in years' Sarah Perry<BR><BR>'Rigorous and sensual... Hewitt has forged a life-enhancing memoir' Spectator

When James meets Luke, everything changes - an exhilarating tale of hidden desire and sudden freedom in the wild countryside.A GUARDIAN BEST SUMMER READTHE INSTANT TOP 10 IRISH BESTSELLER'An achingly beautiful story of first love' GUARDIAN'Gorgeous... I promise it's amazing!' JACK EDWARDS'An exquisite tale... Superb' SARAH PERRYJames dreams of another life far away from his small village. Almost an adult, his newfound desires threaten to unravel his shy exterior. Then he meets Luke. Unkempt and handsome, charismatic and impulsive, he has been sent to stay with his aunt and uncle on a nearby farm. With the passing seasons, a bond emerges between them that transforms their lives. Yet James is never sure of Luke's true feelings and as the end of summer nears, he has a choice to make: will he risk everything for the possibility of love?*Shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize 2026**A Book of the Year for the Guardian, Observer, Irish Times and BBC*READERS HAVE FALLEN FOR OPEN, HEAVEN'I adored every single moment of this phenomenal book' 'The intoxicating rush of first love. Five stars!' 'Gorgeous. I was completely transported''Breathtakingly beautiful. A story that stays with you''Heart-breaking but also triumphant. A must-read' 'It made my heart hurt in the best ways' HELEN MACDONALD'Seán Hewitt is the real deal' BENJAMIN MYERS'Beautifully written, deeply felt' MICHAEL MAGEE'Hewitt writes with such tenderness and grace' ANNE ENRIGHT'Heart-rending... Propulsive' FT'Gorgeous...intimate and euphoric' COLIN WALSHOpen, Heaven was an Irish top ten bestseller w/c 28 April 2025