"Love confused me, bewildered me, tore me apart, but not because it was not love, but because I thought it was fake, some unreal version that did not accord with the love I had dreamt alone"

Open Heaven is a beautiful that truly digs deep into the first love and emotions of a teenager=James. After a twenty year gap he returns to the area he grew up in and which had a profound effect upon his future life.

James lives in a quiet village community; trying to define his path in the world and his own identity - he is gay and open. Felling isolated and having no true friends, he lives a solitary existence beyond the classroom with his parents and young brother Eddie who suffers from seizures. Upon taking up a part time job helping the milkman, he fantasises about meeting men and chances upon encountering Luke- a young man who staying on a farm with relatives . Initially appearing distant and alien to James, Luke holds a deep attraction and fascination.

This is such a tender tory set over one year and the friendship that builds between the two boys- the emotions felt by James are truly raw and palpable and should connect with all readers who have endured the 'eternal turmoil' and yearning of a first love. The second guessing; the power of the imagination; the loneliness of not being able to express or understand feelings and the utter solitariness felt by James is incredibly moving. He is also torn between familial duty - especially towards his young brother- and its 'suffocation" and the need to be free. The interplay between the two characters is pitch perfect.

Seán Hewitt has created a compassionate and at times raw coming of age story- nuanced; laden with beautiful prose and nostalgic.

This is a book for YA readership and adults alike - an eternal tale in which all readers should recognise elements of themselves as they navigate/ed the exploration of love and identity

A beautiful debut and highly recommended

Both a beautifully tender queer coming of age novel, and a subtle piece of nature writing on the northern countryside, this books is like Seán Hewitt's poetry has come to life. Hewitt possesses the ability to make you flinch with his writing; there are flashes of eeriness and shocking inner thoughts, but mostly the prose is so stunning and familiar I had to stop and take a breath when reading. The most truthful novel about love, young love, unrequited love or queer love that I have read in a long time.

I loved this book! I was already a fan of Sean Hewitt's poetry but think that novels by poets can sometimes be a bit clunky. However, Open, Heaven is so well-written - full of lush descriptions of the countryside but through the lens of nostalgia, a narrator looking into the past after a break up with his husband, and a sweeping and intense coming-of-age story. It may be looser on plot, but I was completely transported back to that age. I think the April pub date for this is perfect as it will be a gorgeous spring read. I hope he is writing another novel!

SEAN HEWITT – OPEN HEAVEN *****
This is an exquisite novel. His prose, descriptions of the village where he lived and loved as a boy, the seasons, remind me of the countryside descriptions of H E Bates at his most brilliant. The framing, the older man looking back at himself as a child, reminds me of the film of The Go Between. Talking of the village he returns to he says, “It was as though time had visited it just once, in the early nineteenth century.’
If you like explosions and car chases and high drama, this is not for you. This is an altogether different beast. Calm and measured on the surface, yet seething with passion and emotion underneath. Something Alan Hollinghurst might write. Has to be my most favourite book of the year.

From the first page to the very last I was held by Seán Hewitt’s stunningly beautiful writing in Open, Heaven. This is a tender, emotional coming out story. A story about love.

James is insecure, coming of age and coming out at 16. He lives rurally with his family. Just outside the village, teenager Luke arrives to stay with his uncle on a farm. Luke has confidence and a brazen attitude. His past is not without trouble.

What builds between James and Luke is a friendship, a comradery, and yes love. However, the love is unrequited. James’s desire is raw and intense, his painful yearning is angst filled. The writing is truly poetic and breathtaking. Even the author’s descriptions of the natural world, the forest, the sky, capturing the colours, the scents, are so profoundly written I felt there.

Open, Heaven left me in tears for the poignant beauty, the loss. For all that was and has passed, for all of us. It’s an outstanding book.

Thank you to Random House UK, Vintage and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

I loved every page of this masterful yet tender novel, about a young man looking back on a particular, pivotal moment in time, right on the cusp between boyhood and adulthood, and the boy he met who in many ways left him changed for life.

A lot of novels are termed as "coming of age", but there's something that really rings true about how James feels in his family, socially, and in himself that perfectly captures the last lingering rays of childhood and the fear of the unknown adult world that lies beyond. While the adult James looks back with rose tinted glasses at his old village and what is maybe the last summer he spent there, even those dreamy recollections are pre-echoed by some sort of anxiety or trepidation as to what might come next.

Everything about this idyllic country setting is rendered so beautifully, in such luscious, luxurious language that the everyday is elevated to something golden, untouchable, though somehow out of time, or behind glass. Falling in love bursts James's world right open, in many ways, but this obsession makes him withdrawn in other ways, pulling him away from the other anchors in his life, "ruining the life in front of him".

At a pre-launch event last month, Seán Hewitt said that he had wanted to explore what this kind of infatuation does to a person's imagination, and this idea is explored really interestingly in how the older narrator tells us how adult relationships, even his now failed marriage, paled to the vivid Technicolor of his time spent with Luke - and even at the time, he "was never really living, never inhabiting [his] days, because [he] saw them all as a prelude to something else". Love transforms James, but not in the way he might have thought, and Hewitt charts this on his interior landscape so poignantly.

For a novel so steeped in rapturous love, where every world drips with exquisite longing, it is also perfectly balanced, and even restrained, no more so than in the elegant, moving last pages that hit all the right notes, powerful without being overwrought, sweet while never being saccharine, nostalgic though tempered with reflection and reality. I can't praise Open, Heaven enough.

I thoroughly enjoyed Open, heaven. It really captured the naivety, doubts and insecurities of first love. A really mature insight into love between two boys. Great read

It's hard to articulate exactly what about this book got under my skin and stayed there, refusing to let go of me.

James is young, gay, and longs to escape the quiet country village he calls home. But he is too young to leave, and anyway his family needs him. Lonely and out of place he drifts through each day in the knowledge that he doesn't belong. Then Luke arrives. A little older, but also out of place in his own way. He has been sent to live on a farm with his aunt and uncle as his mother has left and his father is in prison. That summer, Luke and James meet. Over the next year they become part of one another's lives, and James falls in love in the intense, agonising way you do when it is the first time.

In the present, James returns to the village for a day. Just to look around. Just to be there. To sit with the destruction that this single year set in motion.

This is a masterful piece of work. Although it is short, this book leaves you shattered at the end, because every word of it feels so real. From the vivid description of an ordinary village to the wonder and pain of first love. It isn't a grand, hopeful story of finding a lost love or putting your life back together. It is raw and sad and wistful. I read it in less than a day because once I started I couldn't stop. I had to know, had to understand everything that had happened between these two people. What a book.

It is such a privilege to read a book like this.

Open Heaven by Sean Hewitt is a breathtakingly beautiful book. The writing is so lyrical and moving—it pulled me in from the start. There were moments that felt deeply familiar, especially as a gay man growing up, and I think many will relate to the emotional journey in this story. The characters are so lovable and real, and you can’t help but get attached to them. The book captures the quiet, sometimes painful beauty of coming into your own, and it left me feeling both heartbroken and hopeful. It’s a story that stays with you long after you’ve finished reading.

James, a shy 16 year old, lives with his parents and younger brother in a small village in the north of England. Lonely and aware his sexuality has isolated him from school friends, he’s made to help with an early morning milk round. Delivering to a nearby farm he meets Luke, who due to family circumstances has been sent to live there with his aunt and uncle.
Luke is bold, enigmatic and James falls deeply for him, but as the two boys grow closer he’s unsure of Luke’s feelings, as well as becoming increasingly resentful of family expectations.
Set over the course of one year this is a book about the gut-wrenching passion of first love and how it can shape the rest of your life.

Seán Hewitt has had considerable success as a poet, he has a real eye for nature and the changing seasons. This debut novel will deservedly further enhance his reputation.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Vintage for an ARC

Open, Heaven is the stunning debut novel from established poet Seán Hewitt, which follows our main character James as he wades into adulthood trying to find his way in the world. Set in an idyllic rural English village, Open, Heaven tells a beautiful, almost melancholic queer coming of age story which will have a grip on your heart from the opening pages.

The book follows the story of 16 year old James as he begins to come to terms with his own identity and sexuality while also trying to manage the struggle of those angst filled teenage years. In stumbles troubled Luke and it is quite possible his world might implode.

Told with such stunning prose and vivid imagery, Hewitt uses the four seasons to convey the tension yet also beauty of James’s journey. As each season changes, so too does James. And just like the seasons themselves we see everything from small gentle almost imperceivable alterations to stormy, blustery seismic transformations.

The emotions flow freely from the pages of Open, Heaven and it is hard to read it without a building ache in your heart. From the bubbling tension of teenage yearning and angst to the moments of deep sorrow which are filled both with the fear of the unknown and the unfortunate agony of what is already known. This book may possibly break you, but in the most beautiful of ways.

Sometimes you want a book to give you a warm soothing hug, other times you want it to absolutely rip you apart, leaving you an emotional wreck and Seán somehow manages to do both with Open, Heaven. Something very special can happen when a poet turns to fiction and this is indeed the perfect example.

If you enjoyed this review come follow me on Instagram @TravelsEatsReads for more

Open, Heaven by Seán Hewitt is a breathtakingly poetic book that captures the intensity of first love, longing and the quiet ache of self-discovery. Set in a remote village in the north of England, the story follows sixteen-year-old James as he navigates the loneliness of his newly realised sexuality and the constraints of his rural surroundings. When he meets Luke, a boy with a reputation for trouble and a past marked by loss, everything shifts. Their connection is immediate and all-consuming, filled with the uncertainty and urgency of youth.

Hewitt’s writing is exquisite, rich with the lyricism of his poetry. The English countryside is evoked with stunning clarity, from canal towpaths to night skies, milk bottle runs and the song of blackbirds. Every sentence hums with nostalgia and longing, drawing the reader into James’s world, where desire and fear exist side by side.

This is a book about yearning, the intoxicating rush of first love and the quiet devastation of not knowing if your feelings are returned. It is tender, melancholic and utterly absorbing. Hewitt has crafted something truly special, a book that lingers in the mind long after the final page.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

I LOVED this book, truly a remarkable debut novel that will cast a long shadow for me! Open Heaven was so relatable to me as a gay teen who came to terms with my sexuality as a teenager whilst navigating secondary school between 2000-05. It's amazing and so affirming to finally see writers of my generation accurately portray what that experience was like. It's very inspiring! Huge thanks to Sean for writing it.

Open, Heaven by Seán Hewitt is set to be published on 24th April 2025 by Jonathan Cape.

The story follows James, a young gay student from the fictional village of Thornmere, outcast by his peers and laden with the expectations of his parents, a job with a milkman and his little brother's ill health. James feels like no one understands him due to his sexuality, until he meets Luke, the nephew of the local farmer and he falls hard and fast. Will Like reciprocate his feelings, or reject him for them? And is the older boy really as bad as his reputation suggests?

I devoured this beautifully written book, poetic in its descriptions and with two amazing protagonists, and really didn't want to leave the world Hewitt had created for these two young men.

Hewitt had been on my radar for a while, I've had his 2022 memoir All Down Darkness Wide on various wishlists for quite some time, and 300,000 Kisses, the anthology of ancient queer stories he wrote with Luke Edward Hall, was the gift I received in my family's 2024 Secret Santa. It was an absolute no-brainer that I would pick up this book, especially as a queer writer/poet of Irish descent myself. And, let me tell you, I was not disappointed.

Told in movements that correlate with the seasons of the year, Open, Heaven, follows James and Luke as they get to know each other better and form a special bond.

Relatable, heartbreaking but also triumphant and beautiful, Open, Heaven is a must-read for fans of queer literature, romance and also generally well-written fiction.

Image description/alt text: The author's name and the book's title in a white font over a stylised green and yellow painting of a forest.

Open, Heaven is the debut novel from the already much lauded poet Seán Hewitt. This is a beautiful elegy on love, a raw, queer coming of age tale that feels timeless yet so specific to a time and a place. The writing is utterly exquisite - you expect nothing less from a poet of Hewitt's skill.

James, our narrator, is remembering a year in his life twenty something years later, and this casts a nostalgic glow over proceedings, but also makes the love story at its heart feel more universal - it made me think of my own youthful loves and how they made me feel. If the responsibility of fiction is to move and to entertain, then Open, Heaven did both these things for me. I read this in one sitting it was that good.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

Oh dear me. I already foresee that this is going to be one of my favourite books of the year.

It broke my fucking heart. Because it's raw, it's true, it's absolutely honest. I had NEVER read such brutal honesty in describing teenage angst and feelings especially around queerness. James will stay with me for such a long time.

This is not a romance. It's a love story that ends with learning that love is of different kinds. It's about learning to face their own desires, and how they make us feel. It's a absolutely heartbreaking depiction of masculinity, especially in teenage boys, and what they do to belong.

I absolutely loved this. I will be gifting it to a few friends and I will absolutely purchase the hardback when it comes out. Stunning stunning stunning.

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin for the arc!!

Open, Heaven is such an amazing debut novel from Seán Hewitt and I truly didn’t think I’d love this book as much as I did. The way the story moved through the seasons of this one year of James’ life and his adoration/idolisation/infatuation of Luke through the lens of teenage yearning as been executed beautifully by the author.

The pacing of the story and the way the reader empathises with James’ character gives a bittersweet feeling to where his life ended up and the way Luke has never left him and has impacted every moment of his life since - something everyone can relate with one way or another

This book is so much more than just queer teenage first love, it’s a beautiful coming-of-age story and one that will stay with me for a while

i can imagine this felt very relatable for many. with that first love being for a friend. and especially for young gay men, who know they cant be loved by the person back so there is the desire and yearning but they would never break the friendship or want to lose it so simply obsess and keep things as they are.
its such a beautifully written book. this is my first by this author but he swept me along almost on a hum. its had a feeling of poetry prose as you flowed through the story and scenery. like you were in the wind watching it happen. its just felt so gorgeously written. i think i could read anything from this author in future if it has that same flow.
James has clearly led a sheltered life. and so coming out is even harder. especially in the rural village he lives. so meeting Luke explodes his life. forces it open because all James now wants is that passion and love in return. this is his first love and many can relate to just how brilliant but horrific this can be! i think people often say there is nothing like the first love for good and bad reasons. and you dont realize you need to let go of "that" feeling until you do. because there is a biological and life meaning behind why the first feels different. let.it.go...
i felt so bad for James. knowing he could act on what he wanted. and i thought it added a whole new mature layer when the story we are told is from the James in the future when he goes back to that village he grew up in and where all this happened. i really wanted to know how he felt now. was it like looking at young Myspace accounts,ha. or was it so much deeper and life changing than that.
this is a book so full of light,shade and all the in between and it truly makes you feel right alongside the words, the characters and the scene setting. its felt lucky to read it.

Many thanks to the author, Sean Hewitt, @netgalley, and the publishers, Vintage, for a digital ARC of this book, which comes out in the UK on 24 April. I was really excited to read this as I read the author’s memoir, All Down Darkness Wide, in 2023 and thought the writing was superb. This, his debut novel, is a brilliant, claustrophobic study of a friendship and an infatuation.
The novel starts in 2022 where James, the narrator, is visiting a house for sale in the village where he grew up. James is alone and melancholy, which is unsurprising as his marriage has recently broken up. However, it quickly becomes apparent that James’ melancholy is less concerned with his marriage than with thoughts of the friendship he had with Luke as a teenager: he’s actually chosen to view the house because Luke lived there. The novel then spools back 20 years to tell the story of Luke and James’ relationship.

At the time, James was in his late teens, desperate to become an adult (“I was almost feral with it”), but still quite immature in his thoughts. After he’s outed at school, he retreats from his friends and is lonely, isolated, and desperate for some company. He’s also struggling with his desires for other boys, fantasising about all the boys at school at one point or another, but believing that love won’t happen for him – or, that if it does, it will be tainted.

When James meets Luke, he thinks that Luke will provide the key to a new door, and the possibility of a real relationship. The two boys become friends and James is always desiring, but unsure how to read Luke, and whether to make his desires known or not.
Relatively little happens in this novel – even in terms of the friendship, only a few meetings between the boys are shown. James says very little, particularly at the start of the novel, but he’s hypersensitive and overly analytical, so everything is parsed and dissected within his mind. It reminded me rather of Persuasion by Jane Austen in this regard, where a character is so caught up in their own head that they’re a shadow figure in the real world.

In terms of its yearning after a beautiful figure who always seems to be out of reach, the novel reminded me of Alan Hollinghurst’s The Folding Star. However, I’ve never read such a psychologically acute evocation of an infatuation before. The prologue and epilogue reveal the effect James’ view of Luke has had on his whole life, and I found the end of the book, which closes the story, but doesn’t resolve James’ feelings, to be deeply moving. This will be one of my books of the year and I would recommend it to everyone.

I was really keen to read this book. The first novel from Irish poet and non-fiction writer Sean Hewitt sounded just the sort of thing to impress me. And it did. I’m finding myself attracted recently to quiet novels which exude a rich sense of yearning and vulnerability and this certainly does this. Narrator James’ life is in a rut following his break-up with this husband. He sees an advert for the sale of a farmhouse, a place he knew growing up in Thornmere. He decides to view. His dissatisfaction with his present leads to a nostalgic trip through his past, particularly one year from Autumn 2002, when he was 15 and met Luke, a couple of years older, who came to stay at the farmhouse.

After a prologue set in the modern day and a bit towards the end the novel focuses on this year. Books with this feel tend generally to have an earlier time-frame (perhaps I’m just getting old). 2002 allows James to be a teen who has come out at school and to his parents in a small town yet very aware of his perceived position as an outsider. Luke is taciturn, sent to stay with relatives whilst his father is in prison. James becomes obsessed.

This is the tale of that obsession, of a love which cannot move on, of the interpretation of the smallest of gestures as something significant and it is beautifully written. There are elements which could have been beefed up, the location and the sense of the time both seem a little vague but James’ longings are such that the real world barely exists and this makes the lack of definition here very plausible and universal.

I was involved with James’ family background, busy parents with the limited time they have given to his brother, who is 10 years younger but it is James’ desire for Luke which fuels this tale in a way which is poetic and yet so relatable. It is hard to read this without making connections with one’s own teenage years. It will certainly be up there amongst my Books Of The Year.

Open, Heaven is published on April 24th 2025. Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the advance review copy.

This was my first experience reading Sean Hewitt and I suspect that I will read many more as this was so exquisitely written and supremely enjoyable.

James came out to his parents while still in school and finds himself in a lonely place until the arrival of Luke to a neighbouring farm. Luke is a bit of a wild character and James is in awe. As the next year unfolds they encounter each other in different circumstances.

Having read Open, Heaven I was not at all surprised to learn that the author has already published two poetry collections; the imagery and descriptions are delightfully vivid.

Superb!

Seán Hewitt is one of my favourite writers, and Open, Heaven quickly became one of my most anticipated reads for 2025.

This is absolutely Hewitt's take on queer romance because it will devastate you and uplift you in equal measure. The discomfort that the MC has in their own body really resonated in ways I didn't think possible, and I found myself sent straight back to my awkward youth. This book really hits home, and I can't recommend it enough.