Produktdetaljer
Biografisk notat
Seán Hewitt was born in 1990. He is the author of two poetry collections, Tongues of Fire and Rapture’s Road, and a memoir, All Down Darkness Wide. He collaborated with the artist Luke Edward Hall on 300,000 Kisses: Tales of Queer Love from the Ancient World. Hewitt has received the Laurel Prize and the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and been shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. He lectures at Trinity College Dublin and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.<b>An achingly beautiful story of first love </b>in the English countryside . . .<b> Lyrical, atmospheric and transporting</b>
Guardian, *Summer Reads of 2025*
Hewitt is <b>superb</b> in his loving and acute descriptions of the natural world
- SARAH PERRY,
A gorgeous debut novel <b>about an all-encompassing first love… I promise it’s amazing!</b>
- Jack Edwards @jack_edwards,
<b>Heart-rending</b> . . . sensuous and decadent
Financial Times
A <b>beautiful</b>, lyrical and tender novel of<b> youthful passion and the longing for connection</b>
- FERDIA LENNON, author of Glorious Exploits,
<b>A beautiful novel about how a first love can shape a whole life</b>
- HELEN MACDONALD, author of H is for Hawk,
A mature and complete debut novel . . . <b>The central relationship occurs by light, sensitive touch, and reaches arresting emotional depths</b>
New Statesman
Blisses with the bright verdure of youth . . . <b>It’s a novel about us</b>
- KAVEH AKBAR, author of Martyr!,
<b>A gorgeous debut</b> . . . a novel that thrums with hidden love and concealed truths
- ANDREW McMILLAN, author of Pity and Physical,
<b>A luminous portrayal of two teenagers bonding with each other over one heady, transformative year</b>
Waterstones
TWO BOYS MEET. EVERYTHING CHANGES.
THE INSTANT IRISH TIMES BESTSELLER
‘An exquisite tale of first love’ SARAH PERRY, GUARDIAN
‘Heart-rending… Propulsive’ FINANCIAL TIMES
‘God’s Own Country meets Heartstopper’ BRANDON TAYLOR
‘I loved it... Beautiful’ FERDIA LENNON
On the cusp of adulthood, James dreams of another life far away from his small village. As he contends with the expectations of his family, his burgeoning desire – an ache for autonomy, tenderness and sex – threatens to unravel his shy exterior.
Then he meets Luke. Unkempt and handsome, charismatic and impulsive, he has been sent to live with his aunt and uncle on a nearby farm. Luke comes with a reputation for danger, but underneath his bravado lie anxieties and hopes of his own.
With the passing seasons, the two teenagers grow closer and the bond that emerges between them transforms their lives. James falls deeply for Luke, yet he 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?
* A Guardian, Irish Times and BBC Book for 2025 *
READERS LOVE OPEN, HEAVEN
‘My favourite book of the year’
‘Gorgeous. I was completely transported’
‘The intoxicating rush of first love. Five stars!’
‘Breathtakingly beautiful. A story that stays with you’
‘Heart-breaking but also triumphant. A must-read’
‘The most truthful novel about love
that I have read in a long time’
‘It made my heart hurt in the best ways’ HELEN MACDONALD
‘Hewitt writes with such tenderness and grace’ ANNE ENRIGHT
‘Open, Heaven does what the very best coming-of-age stories do’ MICHAEL MAGEE
‘A gorgeous ache of a novel’ COLIN WALSH
‘Seán Hewitt is the real deal’ BENJAMIN MYERS
Open, Heaven was an Irish top ten bestseller w/c 28 April 2025