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 from 1902 to 2025, the work tells the story of multiple members of a family spanning four generations. 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. Many of the settings take place in war zones. The narrative is told unconventionally as the plot shifts back and forth from the past to the present or future. The characters in each time period also have few connections to one another, but although the disparate stories have different relationships, characters and plots, several themes recur throughout the narratives. Themes explored by various characters 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.