The following edition of the text was used in the creation of this study guide: Michaels, Anne. Held. Bloomsbury, 2023. Kindle AZW file.

Chapter I takes place at the River Escaut, Cambrai, France, in 1917. British soldier John lay injured on a World War I battlefield, unable to move or hear. He reflected on his wife, Helena, and childhood memories. The story shifted to Helena’s perspective, recalling the night they met: she accidentally disembarked a train early, stranding her at a rural station. Walking to a nearby inn, Helena met John, who helped her when a drunk man harassed her. They shared a table, talked, and John escorted her back to the station, both feeling their meeting was fate.

Chapter II is set at the River Esk, North Yorkshire, in 1920. John, now home from the war with an injured leg, lived with Helena above his photography studio. Unable to work as before, he hired an assistant, Mr. Stanley. Flashbacks revealed Helena’s desperate ideas to avoid John’s conscription when the war began. Stanley told John he had trained at a London photography studio but lacked references due to the photographer's death in the war. Impressed by Stanley’s work ethic, John was satisfied with his assistant. One day, a young man, recently returned from the war, requested a photo of himself to give to his father after his mother’s passing. When John developed the photo, an apparition of an old woman, identified by the man as his deceased mother, appeared. Shocked, John and Stanley refused payment for the apparent miracle. More ghostly images appeared in John’s photos, comforting him as he believed they indicated a spiritual presence. This new belief, fueled by the loss of his mother during the war, brought John peace and strengthened his faith and relationship with Helena. He wrote to a scientist about his theories on spirits appearing in photographs. Despite Stanley urging him to publicize these phenomena, John hesitated. One morning, John discovered Stanley had stolen all the shop’s money and the ghost photos, revealing the apparitions were a scam. Devastated by the betrayal and loss of his newfound faith, John drowned himself in the river.

Chapter III takes place in River Westbourne, London, 1951. Helena, now sixty, worked in a bookshop. A famous painter asked her to model for him, which distracted her from missing her daughter Anna, who had recently moved away. Helena posed nude, though the painter was only interested in painting her face, believing nudity brought vulnerability. When he criticized her lack of authenticity, Helena suggested she paint him in return. Her talent became clear when she impressed him with her work, but the next day, he replaced her with a younger model.

Chapter IV takes place in River Orwell, Suffolk, 1984. Mara, Anna’s daughter and Helena's granddaughter, returned home to live with her widowed father Peter after working as a doctor in a war zone. She introduced her new partner, Alan, a war correspondent. Alan, traumatized by his experiences, found peace in being part of Mara and Peter’s family. Chapter V is a brief flashback to the same location in 1964. Anna came home and searched for her husband Peter and their daughter Mara. She found Mara outside, playing near a paddling pool where the water appeared to be splashing on its own. Chapter VI returns to 1984. Mara, four months pregnant, planned to return to the war zone to assist her colleagues, leaving Alan distressed. After Mara departed, Alan joined Peter and his friends Sandor and Marcus during a snowstorm. They shared stories of loss and grief. Peter recalled mending a hat for someone who died before he could collect it and whose daughter came to collect it instead. In the middle of the night, Mara returned, unable to board her plane, choosing instead to stay with Peter and Alan.

Chapter VII takes place in Sceaux, France, 1910. Lia, a grieving French widow, went into a forest to gather wood and met a photographer. They talked about photography, life, and loss. The photographer explained that moving subjects didn’t appear in his photos, only still ones. Lia fell asleep and woke to find the photographer gone. He left her a photograph of the city and filled her bag with wood.

Chapter VIII takes place in Estonia, 1980. Paavo and Sofia met in a café and felt an immediate connection, as if fated. Living together in a cold flat, Sofia became pregnant, and they endured restrictions under Estonia’s Communist regime, which limited composer Paavo's artistic freedom. Despite a ban on expressions of religion, Sofia sang Psalms to him in secret. After being accused of breaking the rules, they were exiled, but their request to bring Sofia’s sister was denied. A border guard confiscated a sentimental sweater knitted by Sofia’s sister for Sofia and Paavo’s son Aimo. Sofia had nightmares about losing Paavo, but he comforted her, suggesting her dreams helped her cherish waking up to him each morning.

Chapter IX takes place in Rue Gazan, Paris, 1908 and is narrated in the first person by an unnamed woman addressing her late husband, Eugene. She recalled meeting Pierre and Marie Curie and discussing Pierre's belief that science should not dismiss what it cannot explain, referencing unexplained seances by a medium named Madame Palladino. The narrator also reminisced about meeting Eugene at a party and her memories of their children, Sandor and Marcus. Chapter X takes place in Highcliffe, Dorset, 1912. Marie Curie, staying with her friend Hertha Ayrton to escape scandal, visited a pharmacy where Marcus, the pharmacist, recognized her. He provided her with medicine and a remedy. Marie and Hertha discussed whether Marcus recognized her or was simply being kind. Inside the pharmacy, Marcus reflected on his mixed French and Polish heritage and wished he had shared it with Marie. Both Marie and Hertha ended their day by writing letters to their deceased husbands.

Chapter XI takes place in Captain’s Wood, Suffolk, 2010. A woman named Helen James walked through the woods wearing a hat that her late father had had repaired before his death. As she walked, she felt her father's presence with her, despite his passing. Chapter XII takes place in the Gulf of Finland, 2025. Sofia and Paavo’s son Aimo followed a woman named Anna after she left a café, reminiscing about their first meeting when Anna returned a book he had left behind. They both sensed a deep connection and looked back at each other, realizing the significance of their bond.