Dec 18

Dec 18 Held

About the book

Author: Anne Michaels
Publisher: Knopf

More info:
The StoryGraph | Goodreads
Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the review.

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Bookshop.org (print) | Libro.fm (audio)

My Review

Held was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and if I’m being honest, I’m a little surprised that it didn’t win. Especially because the prize has emphasized how their judges are directed to choose a book that holds up to rereading again and again — which Held absolutely does.

I can tell you that for sure, because I read it twice in three months. And WOW am I glad I did. The first time was for the vibes, and the second time was for the genius. I knew after my first time through that I’d just read something beautiful and moving, but I also knew that I had undoubtedly missed certain connections between characters (it’s told nonlinearly across four or five generations), not to mention subtleties. After my second time through, I knew it was one of my top five literary fiction books of the year.

If you didn’t know that Anne Michaels is a poet, you would after reading this book. In fact, the whole experience of this novel can feel like reading poetry at times. But it’s the perfect structure for a book that asks what lies beyond death, explores the fact that light exists because darkness does, and celebrates how we are remembered. It is moving and layered. Please pick it up (twice).