Rosewater

Winner of Lambda Literary's 2024 Randall Kenan Prize for Black LGBTQ Fiction

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

"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 lovable 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

“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 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, Founders of Get Lifted Books

“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)