In a narrative that spans four generations, moments of connection and consequence ignite and re-ignite as the century unfolds
1917. On a battlefield near the River Escaut, John lies in the aftermath of a blast, unable to move or feel his legs. Struggling to focus his thoughts, he is lost to memory – a chance encounter in a pub by a railway, a hot bath with his lover on a winter night, his childhood on a faraway coast – as the snow falls.
1920. John has returned from war to North Yorkshire, near another river – alive, but not still whole. Reunited with Helena, an artist, he reopens his photography business and endeavours to keep on living. But the past erupts insistently into the present, as ghosts begin to surface in his pictures: ghosts whose messages he cannot understand.
Held was longlisted for the Booker Prize 2024.
Anne Michaels
About the Author
Anne Michaels is a Canadian novelist and poet. Her books have been translated into more than 50 languagesA kaleidoscopic novel about war, trauma, science, faith and, above all, love and human connection. Reading it seems to alter your state of mind
— The 2024 judges on Held