2026 Booker Longlist: Helen of Nowhere by Makenna Goodman

Next up for panel is Helen of Nowhere by Makenna Goodman. Five of our panel read this nominee and here are our reviews…

Makenna Goodman is a Vermont-based writer and the author of The Shame. Helen of Nowhere is her second novel. She’s also written essays, criticism, and short fiction for publications including The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, and BOMB.

Book Synopsis from Booker website: In the middle of the countryside, a realtor is showing a disgraced professor around an idyllic house. She speaks not only about the home’s many wonderful qualities but about its previous owner, the mystifying Helen, whose presence still seems to suffuse every fixture. 

Through hearing stories of Helen’s chosen way of living, the man begins to see that his story is not actually over – rather, he is being offered a chance to buy his way into the simple life, close to the land, that’s always been out of reach to him. But as evening fades into black, he will learn that the asking price may be much higher, and stranger, than anticipated. 

Nicole’s Thoughts: 

I cannot believe 5 literary people read this book and decided it was one of the top 13 books written in the English language in 2026. It’s a 4-hour audio. With an hour left, I wanted to abandon it. I don’t even know how it got published – it’s so -nothing-.

I see that the author has worked in the publishing industry, so it’s not nepotism, but close. Somebody fought hard for this book for reasons that couldn’t have possibly been the the book. Thank God it was short.

Writing quality: 3/5
Originality: 2/5
Character development: 0/4
Plot development: 0/4
Overall enjoyment: 0/2
Total: 5/20

Anita’s Thoughts: The first chapter had potential, but it was all downhill from there (imho). My take away is you can’t just hang social commentary on the barest of threads and expect to find a grateful readership for it. The structure was different; so original in that regard. Not necessarily original in a good way. At least it was short. The length was its best trait. After the fact, someone smarter than me shared an interpretation of the final chapter that I believe was accurate . . .and it literally made this book even worse for me than my ratings might suggest.

Writing quality: 3/5
Originality: 4/5
Character development: 2/4
Plot development: 1/4
Overall enjoyment: 0/2
Total: 10/20

Jen’s Thoughts: I have to say that I agree with my fellow panelists above me. I struggle to see how this book made the list. It took me almost a week to read, and it’s the shortest book on the list. Half the time, I was eye-rolling my way through the “deep” philosophical musings.

The best thing it has going for it, at least with respect to our rating categories, is that it is undeniably original and creative. The structure is interesting and the threads connecting it to Helen of Troy will be something that is potentially pleasing to highly literary readers. I begrudgingly admit that thinking through how the author turned some of the narrative on its head (with respect to how it’s linked to Helen of Troy) is worth musing. Plot is a little hard to rate because, well, there really isn’t much of one.

Books that are mostly musings don’t necessarily bother me. In fact, I’ve loved some of them. What it really comes down to is whether I found the questions and ideas about gender, power, alienation, and our desire to reinvent ourselves deep or compelling—and I simply didn’t. There are a lot of big ideas here, but for me, the novel seemed more interested in raising them than actually saying anything particularly interesting about them.

Writing quality: 3/5
Originality: 5/5
Character development: 2/4
Plot development: 1/4
Overall enjoyment: 0.5/2
Total: 11.5/20

Tracy’s Thoughts: WTF? I’m all for experimental writing, and interesting choices in book prize submissions. But this felt like a lot of jotted down notes in a moleskine passed off as a novel. There were so many questions raised in the book. I wish the characters had proposed some theoretical solutions.

One plus- the character development of the disgraced professor. He was well done, absolutely abhorrent!

Writing quality: 2.5/5
Originality: 4/5
Character development: 2.5/4
Plot development: 0.5/4
Overall enjoyment: 0.5/2
Total: 10/20

Lisa’s Thoughts: I really did not enjoy this book. There were pieces of it that rang true, such when the main character — the disgraced professor — talks about how he used to be considered an original scholar, but then a new (female) scholar came along and now she was considered brilliant and he was not. The hubris and indignation of the male scholar was familiar although not original. But, most of the book was indecipherable. It was one of those books where you never know if you just aren’t very bright and are missing the point, or the author is just throwing a lot of words on the page. Or maybe they are throwing a lot of words on the page in a sort of narrative and expecting that you will feel lost and confused and that is the point.

Writing quality: 3/5
Originality: 3/5
Character development: 1/4
Plot development: 1/4
Overall enjoyment: 0/2
Total: 8/20

Rankings

1. John of John: 16.83/20

2. The Things We Never Say: 15.3/20

3. Helen of Nowhere: 8.9

Have you read it?  What do you think? Want to try it for yourself? You can purchase your copy here: Helen of Nowhere