Held spans over a century and various locations, intertwining individual lives with the vast currents of history. The book is a meditation on how we are "held" — by the people we love, the memories we cannot escape, the histories we inherit, and the places that mark us. Michaels uses a fragmented narrative structure to reflect the nonlinear nature of memory and experience. It pieces together the lives of her characters and finds meaning in the gaps between what is said and unsaid.
The novel opens in 1917 along the River Escaut in France during World War I. John is surrounded by a landscape of destruction and his thoughts are filled with the loss of comrades and a sense of the fragility of life. Amidst the chaos, he experiences brief moments of clarity and reflection while contemplating the mysteries of existence, time, and death. He meets Helena in a chance encounter that becomes the foundation for a deep and enduring relationship. As the story moves forward to 1920 in North Yorkshire, John and Helena attempt to build a life together. Their marriage is marked by tenderness and quiet desperation as they try to heal from the emotional scars of war. The scenes set in their small home capture the tension between the desire for normalcy and the intrusion of painful memories.
The narrative shifts to 1951 in London as it introduces a photographer who begins to see strange images in his photos — ghostly apparitions that appear beside his subjects. This subplot serves as a metaphor for the novel’s exploration of memory and the invisible ties that bind the living and the dead. By 1984, the setting moves to Suffolk and focuses on Mara, a young woman working as a medical professional in conflict zones. Her experiences in war-torn regions contrast sharply with the quiet life of her father who runs a small workshop. In 2025, the novel circles back to its themes of memory, history, and the passage of time. As Mara looks back on her life, she reflects on the interconnectedness of the stories that have shaped her.
The stories come full circle by returning to the rivers that served as backdrops to the earlier lives in the story. It repeatedly emphasizes how individual lives are interconnected across time and space. Characters in different times and places are linked by blood, love, or shared experiences. Through relationships like those between John and Helena, and later between Mara and her father, Michaels examines how love endures through time. Michaels also engages with the theme of history’s persistence — how the past continues to shape the present. The novel's characters are caught between the desire to move forward and the weight of history that they carry with them.
