Rosewater

Liv Little

Bold and beautiful. The perfect inaugural title for Get Lifted Books. We are so excited to introduce Liv’s bracing contemporary voice to the world.”

- John Legend, Mike Jackson, and Ty Stiklorius, Get Lifted Books

A TODAY and LGBTQ Reads Most Anticipated Book of 2023 • A Goodreads Buzziest Debut Novel of the New Year • An Electric Lit Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Book of Spring 2023 • A Bustle Most Anticipated Book of Spring & Summer 2023 • A Nylon April 2023 Must-Read Book • An Ebony Required Reading Pick for April

For fans of Bolu Babalola and Tia Williams comes a “tender, soulful, and sexy” (Phoebe Robinson) debut novel about finding love in an unexpected place.

ISBN

9781638930228

Language

English

Page count

304

Edition

Hardcover

Sale date

April 25, 2023

Dimensions

5.5 x 8.25

About the Book

Elsie is a sexy, funny, and fiercely independent woman in south London. But several things in her life have gone terribly wrong. She’s estranged from her family; is failing to make it as a poet; and has just been evicted from her social housing. As fierce and independent as she is, even Elsie must admit that being a carefree 28-year-old is proving difficult—and that she’s running out of options.

Juliet, her best friend since childhood, has always been Elsie’s lifeline. So even though they haven’t spoken in months, Elsie is soon snuggled up on Juliet’s couch, back at home among the mismatched cushions and knit blankets. 

Between their reruns of Drag Race and nights smoking on the balcony, something surprising begins to glimmer in Elsie’s heart. And as the days turn into weeks and then months, this feeling quickly becomes too fierce to ignore. Will Elsie be brave enough to open herself up to love? 

Featuring the poetry of Kai-Isaiah Jamal, Rosewater is a deliciously steamy queer romance from a bold new voice. An electric and captivating debut, Elsie’s story teaches us that sometimes home is not always where we are, but who we are with . . .

 

Simmering.” —New York Times
Sensuous.” —Electric Lit
As buzzy as it gets.” —no kill magazine
Fresh, zesty, and sexy.” —Bernardine Evaristo
Sensuous, urgent, and pulsating with youth.” —Xochitl Gonzalez
I laughed, I cried, couldn’t put it down.” —Monica Heisey

Reviews

TODAY and LGBTQ Reads Most Anticipated Book of 2023 • A Goodreads Buzziest Debut Novel of the New Year • An Electric Lit Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Book of Spring 2023 • A Bustle Most Anticipated Book of Spring & Summer 2023 • A Nylon April 2023 Must-Read Book • An Ebony Required Reading Pick for April

-

“Simmering.”

- New York Times

“This vividly rendered story of a dynamic young woman finding her way is a compelling and engaging read for fans of Talia Hibbert, Sally Rooney, and Candice Carty-Williams.”

- Booklist, Starred Review

“A lyrical, keenly-observed novel.”

- Bustle (A Spring & Summer 2023 Most Anticipated Book)

“A queer coming-of-age story capturing the existential, aimless dread of the moment.”

- Nylon (An April 2023 Must-Read Book)

“This one’s about as buzzy as it gets in queer world—gritty characters, subtle social commentary, the messes and marvels of life itself inform this debut novel that you won’t be able to put down. A sometime stunning mediation on friendship deepening unexpectedly into love, intermixed with poetry by Kai-Isaiah Jamal, this little gem about a poet trying to make it in South London, is nothing short of gorgeous.”

- no kill magazine

“For found family mixed with queer joy, sapphic romance, and a healing journey, look no further than Rosewater.”

- LitHub

“Sensuous.”

- Electric Lit (A Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Book of Spring 2023)

“A wonderfully fresh, zesty and sexy debut novelist who is putting Black queer lives, loves and longings center stage, where they belong.”

- Bernardine Evaristo, Booker Prize winning author of Girl, Woman, Other

“Rosewater is sensuous, urgent, and pulsating with youth—embracing all of its messiness, discovery and boundless capacity for love. Little’s London pulls no punches—and Elsie’s journey will make you by turns scream and laugh—but the joy of this novel is watching Elsie discover-page by page and poem by poem—that not only will she not break, she is by no means alone.”

- Xochitl Gonzalez, New York Times bestselling author of Olga Dies Dreaming

“Little gifts us with a novel that tells of the love, courage, grace and power of a connection and a softness that propels us through the messy, harsh realities of life and self-discovery—to know yourself through the love that knows you. Elsie is loveable and frustrating and swaggering and vulnerable, a wonderful protagonist. Frank, sexy, and so tender. Little’s pen shines.”

- Bolu Babalola, bestselling author of Honey and Spice and Love in Color

“Liv Little’s Rosewater is the book we’ve all been longing to read. It’s tender, soulful, and sexy, and once I started this book, I couldn’t put it down. Liv’s unique and lyrical voice tells a story that breaks your heart before putting it back together again, and Elsie, unapologetic in her Blackness, queerness, and everything in between, is a young woman many will be able to relate to. A jewel of a debut novel. Brava, Liv!”

- Phoebe Robinson, New York Times bestselling author of You Can’t Touch My Hair and Please Don’t Sit on My Bed in Your Outside Clothes

“Rosewater is funny, witty, messy, and beautifully queer… A story that seeps into you the way warm sunshine does at the final edges of winter.”

- Nicole Dennis-Benn, bestselling author of Patsy and Here Comes the Sun

“Beautifully rendered . . . I laughed, I cried, couldn’t put it down.”

- Monica Heisey, bestselling author of Really Good, Actually

“Rosewater is sexy, alive, and modern—a perfectly-formed romance that burns hot and deliciously slow. Liv Little has captured the fullness of love as it shines most brightly—in the hidden corners of the heart and the hard-won spaces where truth finally meets freedom. This book is a must-read and a captivating delight.”

- Jayne Allen, bestselling author of Black Girls Must Die Exhausted

“Unapologetically bold and heartfelt.”

- Lizzie Damilola Blackburn, author of Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband?

“At turns tender and tenacious, punchy and profound, Rosewater is an unforgettable London love story from an effervescent and irresistible new voice.”

- Coco Mellors, author of Cleopatra and Frankenstein

“In this thrilling book, Liv Little charts us through the fast-paced life of Elsie, trying to find stability when everything under her is falling apart. Elsie is a charmer—girls fall in love with her wherever she goes, and yet she tries to stay as emotionally detached as she can, until she realizes that love has been staring her in the face this whole time. This book feels like my friends; it’s close in a way that feels honest to people that we all know and love—poets, camgirls, waitresses and bartenders all trying to find a place where they can live, love, and fuck freely.”

- Fatimah Asghar, author of If They Come for Us

“Sharply observed yet tender at the same time, Rosewater explores the meaning of home, exposing its fragility and its tenacity as Little’s characters fight to find their place in the world.”

- Gwen E. Kirby, author of Shit Cassandra Saw

“A gritty, heartfelt, no holds barred look at life and love in present-day London.”

- Andrea Lee, author of Red Island House

“Bold and beautiful. The perfect inaugural title for Get Lifted Books. We are so excited to introduce Liv’s bracing contemporary voice to the world.”

- Mike Jackson, John Legend, and Ty Stiklorius

“Timely, enlightening, and full of promise. Little is a talent.”

- Sunday Times (UK)

“Powerfully visceral and exposing.”

- Kadish Morris, The Guardian (UK)

“A gritty coming-of-age Black British story of love and loss . . . Impossible to put down, Rosewater paints a captivating portrait of South London.”

- Elle (UK)

“Full of energy, wit and excitement, this is a book to watch.”

- Stylist (UK)

“A paeon to a queer love affair that’s sexy, complex and romantic.”

- Evening Standard (UK)

"Bold and beautiful. Rosewater is the perfect inaugural title for Get Lifted Books!"

―John Legend, Mike Jackson, and Ty Stiklorius, Founders of Get Lifted Books