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Helen of Nowhere
Written by Makenna Goodman
- Longlisted
- The Booker Prize 2026
- Published by Fitzcarraldo Editions
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Philosophically and formally adventurous, at once intimate and cosmic in scope, Helen of Nowhere asks: what must we give up in exchange for true happiness?
In the middle of the countryside, a realtor is showing a disgraced professor around an idyllic house. She speaks not only about the home’s many wonderful qualities but about its previous owner, the mystifying Helen, whose presence still seems to suffuse every fixture.
Through hearing stories of Helen’s chosen way of living, the man begins to see that his story is not actually over – rather, he is being offered a chance to buy his way into the simple life, close to the land, that’s always been out of reach to him. But as evening fades into black, he will learn that the asking price may be much higher, and stranger, than anticipated.
Helen of Nowhere was longlisted for the Booker Prize 2026.
Makenna Goodman
Makenna Goodman is an American author, writer, and editor
More about Makenna Goodman A spellbinding novel or a play with just four characters? Philosophically, politically, and spiritually adventurous, this slim, ambitious volume has the power to transform
The Booker Prize 2026 judges
What the judges said
‘A spellbinding novel or a play with just four characters? In groundbreaking form, Helen of Nowhere blends both to challenge us with a seemingly simple question: How much are we truly willing to change ourselves in order to get back to nature? A fallen professor’s visit to a rural house leads to a surreal and destabilising encounter with a realtor, who shares the tale of Helen, the home’s former occupant. Philosophically, politically, and spiritually adventurous, this slim, ambitious volume has the power to transform.’
What the critics said
Johanna Thomas-Corr, The Sunday Times
‘Helen of Nowhere wears its weirdness and difficulty with pride. Goodman has created an ambiguous, mercurial work dripping with irony, but it doesn’t feel remote. This is partly thanks to the energy and suppleness of her sentences, but also to her critique of binary thinking.’
Financial Times
‘The ideas at work in this exhilarating and surprising novel are far from limited to the low-hanging fruit of campus misogyny, and the narrative soon gives way to meditations on truth and identity as the professor begins to feel “stoned” on the realtor’s stories. The incantatory second half of the novel raises compelling and resonant questions about how we see ourselves and others in our present moment of atomisation and disconnection.’
Jo Hamya, the Guardian
‘Despite how fabular Helen of Nowhere seems in its progression, these kinds of narratorial shifts between Man, Realtor, Helen and ultimately Wife are dexterously, meticulously performed. They help enact a carefully negotiated dialectic: doing v taking, buying v selling, the individual v community, man v nature, dominance v support, masculine v feminine. Beyond its more obvious themes of misogyny and supplanted power, Goodman’s writing also asks worthwhile questions of us all. How much of living is predicated on a reliance on – if not exploitation of – others? To what extent is this bearable? How far does it delegitimise individual pleasure? What should “good” living look like? Where does the knowledge such a pursuit requires come from? Can it be, at once, wholly ethical and personally pleasurable? Each answer, naturally, depends on the privileges afforded a person.’
Noel Gardener, Buzz Mag
‘With its text consisting largely of characters recalling past incidents, or dispensing putative wisdom on how to process these incidents, Helen Of Nowhere’s story arc is largely elusive. Its final act/chapter raises more questions than answers (surely everything which preceded it wasn’t ‘all just a dream’?) but is written with evocative poise, this being only one component of Goodman’s literary gift.’
