Rosewater, Liv Little
‘An ode to love, sex, sexuality, desire, friendship, South-East London and so much more – Rosewater is a debut you do not want to miss.’
A blazing debut that catapults Little onto the literary scene, this is the sapphic love story we have been waiting for. We’ve all been in reading slumps before, and it felt as if Little grabbed my hand and quite literally yanked me out of it, straight into Elsie’s world.
Rosewater is a black love story set in London; our protagonist is a struggling poet working at a gay bar facing challenging times when her best friend steps in to offer support. With an array of characters that you will find yourself loving tenderly as they circle around Elsie, providing her with the love, support, and stability she needs. This is a debut rich with love.
Little’s exploration of mental health, independence, rebuilding one’s confidence, resilience in hard times, family and found family were just a few themes that shone. The prose flows beautifully, keeping the reader’s attention from start to finish, and Elsie’s poetry (written by the amazing Kai-Isaiah Jamal) is so truthfully written and raw that it brings Elsie’s character alive more than you would think possible.
An ode to love, sex, sexuality, desire, friendship, South-East London and so much more – Rosewater is a debut you do not want to miss.
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