A literary romance like no other – Kimberly Campanello’s debut novel unfurls over a hot Breton summer as American student K embarks on a love affair with a local.
Barred from using English by their French programme, the Americans’ identities flicker and fade. Yet for K this dissolution opens space for profound transformation.
Heady and poetic, erotic and intelligent, this is a coming-of-age tale that reveals how coming-of-age – at its pinnacle – means coming alive. Alive to touch and taste, pleasure and ecstasy.
To the sea, the sun and eternity.
Use the Words You Have was published in June 2025 by Somesuch Editions. It was shortlisted for the 2026 Society of Authors Gordon Bowker Volcano Prize.
“Use the Words You Have is one of those rare books that not only sparks excitement for the talent on show, but revives a passion for the very possibilities of the medium itself […] Campanello has discreetly slid a masterpiece into the mix.”
“Campanello’s abiding interest in language transforms this into a moving study of both literary form and desire.”
“Use the Words You Have is a testament to language’s curious duality: it constrains, it limits, but it also liberates by offering new ways to communicate, connect and love.”
“Campanello’s words will utterly captivate you. She has a way of seeing the world in a way that only a poet can see, a way of producing a novel that only she can produce.”
“Use the Words You Have is effervescent.”
