Held A Novel
Held, a novel by Anne Michaels, is published by Random House on March 4, 2025, and spans 240 pages. This narrative unfolds against the backdrop of the early 20th century, beginning in 1917 on a battlefield near the River Escaut, where John lies incapacitated after an explosion. As he grapples with his memories, the story transitions to 1920, where John returns to North Yorkshire, attempting to rebuild his life with Helena, an artist, while confronting the lingering shadows of his past.
Readers will find a rich exploration of love and loyalty across generations, as the narrative delves into themes of family life and the impact of war. The story intricately weaves together moments of desire and longing, revealing how connections and consequences resonate through time. As John navigates his new reality, the ghosts of his past emerge in unexpected ways, adding layers of mystery and depth to his journey. This edition offers a profound look at the human experience, reflecting on the interplay between memory and the present.
Official synopsis Publisher
A breathtaking, ineffable new novel from the author of the international best sellers Fugitive Pieces and The Winter Vault—a story of love and loyalty across generations, at once sweeping and intimate
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 as the snow falls—a chance encounter in a pub by a railway, a hot bath with his lover on a winter night.
1920. John has returned from war to North Yorkshire, near a different river. He is alive but still not whole. Reunited with Helena, an artist, he reopens his photography business and tries to keep on living. But the past erupts insistently into the present, as ghosts begin to surface in his pictures: ghosts with messages he cannot understand.
So begins a narrative that spans four generations of connections and consequences that ignite and reignite as the century unfolds. In radiant moments of desire, comprehension, longing, and transcendence, the sparks fly upward, working their transformations decades later.
Held is affecting and intensely beautiful, full of mystery, wisdom, and compassion, a novel by a writer at the height of her powers.
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