Helm

This virtuosic outing from Hall (Burncoat) gives voice to the Helm—a storied northeasterly wind known for its destructive power and distinctive cloud formations that blows down the Cross Fell escarpment in Northwest England. Helm describes its “crazy coming-of-age” as it becomes aware of life on Earth, noting that “things become interesting” with the evolution of human beings. From there, the novel moves from the Neolithic to the present—with numerous stops in between. Chapters from Helm’s perspective alternate with those narrated by a Victorian wind-hunter, Thomas Bodger; a prehistoric tribeswoman who names the wind Halron; a tortured Dark Ages crusader who carries a freshly hewn cross up the escarpment; and a contemporary climate scientist, Dr. Selima Sutar, whose “experiments have shown that cloud-borne plastics are leading to denser accumulation of cloud”—in other words, humans are changing Helm’s very makeup with their behavior. To center a novel on a sentient wind and its relationship with humans is audacious, but Hall carries it off with conviction, fully inhabiting disparate voices across centuries. Most poignant are the chapters from the perspective of Janni, a mid-20th-century girl who undergoes electroconvulsive therapy, and whose tender, almost romantic bond with Helm is moving and well drawn. Readers will be swept away by Hall’s ambitious and formally daring narrative. (Nov.)