First Summer

‘An intimate story of self-discovery… Beautiful’ Orhan Pamuk

'The connection between the young narrator and Clara feels fragile and inevitable, and the book evokes that fleeting threshold where imagination and desire blur. For readers who loved Call Me By Your Name , this is a similarly soft, hazy, and quietly devastating story.' Dua Lipa's Service95

‘An engrossing, passionate, and nostalgic queer coming-of-age story. Set in the heat of a teenaged summer, and in a galaxy far, far away; this book captures how it feels to connect with someone during that adolescent period when childhood fantasies collide with the realities of adulthood. A true celestial treat.’ Emily Austin, author of Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead

‘Such a tender story of love, discovery, connection, and loss. Ekin Oklap’s writing is startling in its apparent simplicity, beautifully timeless and fragile.’ Han Smith, Goldsmith Prize-shortlisted author of Portraits at the Palace of Creativity and Wrecking



‘An intimate story of self-discovery… Beautiful’ Orhan Pamuk

'The connection between the young narrator and Clara feels fragile and inevitable, and the book evokes that fleeting threshold where imagination and desire blur. For readers who loved Call Me By Your Name , this is a similarly soft, hazy, and quietly devastating story.' Dua Lipa's Service95

‘An engrossing, passionate, and nostalgic queer coming-of-age story. Set in the heat of a teenaged summer, and in a galaxy far, far away; this book captures how it feels to connect with someone during that adolescent period when childhood fantasies collide with the realities of adulthood. A true celestial treat.’ Emily Austin, author of Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead

‘Such a tender story of love, discovery, connection, and loss. Ekin Oklap’s writing is startling in its apparent simplicity, beautifully timeless and fragile.’ Han Smith, Goldsmith Prize-shortlisted author of Portraits at the Palace of Creativity and Wrecking



Ekin Oklap was born in Turkey, grew up in Italy, and lives in London. Her translations from Turkish and Italian have been shortlisted for the International Booker Prize and John Florio Prize, among others. First Summer is her first novel.