Helen of Nowhere

Synopsis

Helen of Nowhere is an electrifying and formally adventurous novel about a man at the end of his career and marriage who is offered the possibility of an entirely different life.

In the middle of the countryside, a young realtor shows a disgraced professor around an idyllic house whose previous owner, Helen, seems to remain present in every room. As the realtor tells him about Helen and the radically simple life she chose, the man becomes increasingly fascinated by the possibility of starting over. The house, the land, and Helen's mysterious history begin to offer an alternative to the life he has built and the failures that have brought him there.

But as the day gives way to evening, the seemingly straightforward property viewing becomes increasingly strange. The story of Helen begins to challenge the professor's assumptions about happiness, marriage, work, nature, and what it means to change one's life. What initially appears to be an escape into a simpler existence gradually reveals a far more complicated bargain.

Philosophical, surreal, and darkly funny, Helen of Nowhere takes the familiar fantasy of starting over and pushes it into unsettling territory. Through an unusual dramatic structure and a small cast of vividly drawn characters, Makenna Goodman examines the structures that shape identity and asks what we might actually have to surrender in exchange for a different way of living. The novel was longlisted for the 2026 Booker Prize.

About the Author

Makenna Goodman is an American novelist and editor based in Vermont. She is the author of The Shame and Helen of Nowhere. Her writing has appeared in publications including the New York Review of Books, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Review of Books, The White Review, BOMB, The Common, and Mousse Magazine.

Publisher

Coffee House Press

Publication Date

September 9, 2025

Format

Paperback

Pages

141

Subjects

Literary Fiction; Contemporary Fiction; Philosophical Fiction; Surrealism; Feminism; Marriage; Divorce; Nature; Rural Life; Identity; Starting Over; Gender; Family

ISBN

9781566897358