Held

A Novel

By: Anne Michaels

Narrated by: Anne Michaels

Length: 4 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE AND THE GILLER PRIZE • A breathtaking and ineffable new novel from the author of the international best sellers Fugitive Pieces and The Winter Vault—a novel 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.

©2024 Anne Michaels (P)2024 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Anne Michaels’s compelling novel, Held, couldn’t be more timely: war and its damages, passed through generations over a century. Through luminous moments of chance, change, and even grace, Michaels shows us our humanity—its depths and shadows.”—Margaret Atwood, via X

“Held may be one of the most romantic books I’ve ever read . . . Gorgeous . . . Surprisingly expansive . . . Hauntingly beautiful . . . The whole novel is spiked with little detonations of awe . . . Michaels publishes novels so deliberately that each one entrances readers of a new decade.”—Washington Post

“Michaels’s narrative glides gracefully back and forth in time . . . Each brief chapter is filled with deftly sketched characters . . . Throughout, these stories spark both poignant connections and provocative divergences.”—New York Times Book Review

Would give six stars if possible

Glad I came across this book, as I had never previously read Anne Michaels. Thought provoking and filled wth beautiful language. Almost poetic. I do not always enjoy the narration by the author, but I can’t imagine any other person reading it. Highly recommend to those that enjoy wonderful prose.

Poetry of the Heart

Held is read by the author, Anne Michael. It is a book of vignettes of love, loss, desire, death, the unseen world as well as meditations on war and other memories. The prose is beautiful and poetic. I listened to this book twice in order to take it in. I love Anne Michael’s writing. Fugitive Pieces is by far my favorite. I read that book many times. I rarely reread books even though I read constantly. I loved this book but I needed the second read in order to have it sink into my soul. The beauty of this book brought me peace and stillness. I may listen to it again sometime. This book definitely will not be for everyone. I think it is for meditative spirits and people who value poetry of the heart.

Poetic but not enough to keep my mind engaged while I walked and listened

So confusing. Who??? When??? I’m surprised that I finished it. There’s no one to recommend it to me

Love is foremost.

Droning voice. But beautiful prose and lovely images come to mind. The journey of life is only made bearable traveling with those one loves and loved by.

Gorgeous storytelling- but missing the story

She writes so beautifully capturing people, images, and makes you hungry for more…but it’s more like a collection of short stories and some are interrelated…with the same underlying theme…but different characters…as soon as you’re enjoying the story, she flips to a new chapter with new people. You are left wanting more…also…it was off-putting to listen to a narrator with a Canadian accent mispronouncing words- I prefer my narrators to just bring the book to life, not to distract.

Beautifully written

I believe the writer should have hired a professional person to narrate, her rhythm was not so good and also having all these different characters read by the same person with the same intonation was not easy to follow. The story is absolutely beautiful though!

Damage to people done by warping check, ,

Disliked jumping from unrelated time sequences. Breathy reader is good for some chapters but not for all

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P.8

Poetic, philosophical, and probably better read than heard

I regret having chosen the audible version of this book, rather than reading the text. It is layered in a way that would benefit from flipping back and forth between chapters set in different eras. Also there is some beautiful writing that I would have liked to read again before going on. The readers voice is very melancholic, could have brought more nuance.

Terrible

it jumps around so much. it's impossible to follow. I could have been listening to a book or I could have been listening to the directions on how to put together an end table.

Monotone, often incomprehensible performance

The story is poetic and beautiful yes. But I really feel strongly that very few authors are capable of providing the narration of their own books. They are authors not actors. Anne Michaels is a wonderful writer but her voice is SO MONOTONE and her accent in English is so peculiar, that I found this book VERY difficult to listen to and even MORE difficult to understand. She eliminates many vowel sounds when she speaks, making it confusing and frustrating to understand basic words. For example, she says the word “arrow”. I had to rewind the sentence 5 times to understand whether she was saying “air” “err” or “error”. Finally after the 5th time, I understood the context well enough to realize she was saying “arrow”. Her pronunciation of “wife” is “woyf”, and the confusion goes on and on. Add on top of this constant monotony and it made for the hardest listen I’ve ever experienced on Audible. If I didn’t have to read this book for a book club, I would’ve given up at minute 5.