Held (novel)

Held is a 2023 novel by writer and poet Anne Michaels, published by Knopf, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House. An epic novel, spanning a time period from 1908 to 2025, the work tells the story of multiple members of a family spanning four generations, and various other people who are connected to them in some way. The locations or settings are varied and include a French battlefield during World War I, 1900s Paris, mid-20th century Suffolk, 2025 in Finland, and London. Two of the settings are war zones.

The narrative is told unconventionally, shifting between past, present and future. Although the relationship between the different settings and characters is not always immediately apparent, several themes recur throughout the narratives. These include mortality and death, the philosophy of science, love, the soul, grief, and forms of image capture such as photography.

The novel was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize, and won the 2024 Giller Prize.