Jessica Knoll’s 2026 novel, Helpless, is a psychological thriller from the bestselling author of Luckiest Girl Alive and Bright Young Women. Knoll is known for crafting complex female protagonists, and her work has received significant recognition, including selections for Reese’s Book Club and the Read with Jenna book club. Helpless centers on Faye Heron, a successful writer and director who returns to her upstate New York college town for the funeral of her beloved mentor. The trip forces a reunion with her ex-boyfriend, Henry Spalding, whose presence reawakens a dangerous and complicated past. The novel explores themes of Agency within Relationships, The Insulating Power of Wealth, and Sublimating Trauma into Art.

This guide refers to the 2026 Scribner hardcover edition.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide contain depictions of graphic violence, physical and emotional abuse, sexual content, substance use, mental illness, pregnancy loss, substance use, death by suicide, cursing, and illness or death.

Plot Summary

Faye Heron is a successful television writer and director in her mid-thirties; she lives and works in Los Angeles. Faye attended college in upstate New York after receiving a life-changing scholarship; a well-regarded film professor, Patrick Toner, (nicknamed “PT”) recognized her talent and mentored her. PT helped her secure a job in Los Angeles shortly after she graduated; in L.A, Faye achieved significant acclaim while starring in a popular television series, although she has since moved away from acting. Faye wrote and directed a critically acclaimed episode of the same television series, which won an Emmy; the episode focused on a depiction of coercive control and abusive relationships. 

At the start of the novel, Faye is at a crossroads in her personal and professional life. She is working on a screenplay for her first feature film, and a well-known actress has expressed interest in the project. Both Faye, her husband (who also works in the entertainment industry) and her agent are excited by this prospect. However, unbeknownst to them, Faye has been secretly meeting with a new agent. She is unhappy in her marriage and longs for a divorce but knows that leaving her husband would have significant repercussions for their intertwined careers. Her husband’s brother is an executive at the talent agency that represents her, and she knows she will be cast out if she initiates a divorce. Faye’s secret attempts to secure new representation lay the groundwork for her to leave her marriage without sacrificing her professional success. 

When Faye learns that PT has died suddenly due to a heart attack, she travels back to the small town where she attended college. She plans to take time after the funeral to isolate herself and finish the film script, which has an urgent deadline. Faye is also acting as an alumni mentor for the same writing scholarship she once received, and has received a screenplay from Emma King, the current scholarship recipient. At the funeral, Faye glimpses several people who played a significant role in her college life. Campbell is one of PT’s nephews and attended college alongside Faye; the two of them were close friends. Campbell is now married to a woman named Corrine and has a young son. Henry Spalding is Faye’s ex-boyfriend; they dated for two and a half years during college. Henry, now married with young children, is also PT’s nephew and Campbell’s cousin. Both men come from wealthy New England families and own cabins on the same remote island (where PT also had a property). 

Faye and Henry’s relationship was volatile and passionate; they had an intense and kinky sex life that revolved around a BDSM dynamic in which Faye voluntarily subordinated herself to Henry. The summer after their college graduation, Henry experienced a panic attack while driving Faye to the airport so that she could fly to LA for a job interview (an opportunity that would likely spell the end of their relationship). Faye chose to prioritize her career, arranging help for Henry but refusing to miss her flight. Their relationship ended after this incident and they haven’t spoken since. The reunion is particularly tense because the famous television episode that Faye directed was based on this incident and she fears that Henry will be angry with her for depicting him as manipulative and abusive. 

After the funeral, Emma tells Faye that she has suspicions about PT’s sudden death but Faye dismisses these concerns. Sexual tension reemerges between she and Henry, and she agrees to his suggestion that he come to her hotel room to return some old belongings, anticipating that they will begin an affair. Instead, Henry drugs and abducts her; she awakens trapped in his remote cabin. Henry has taken control of her phone and manipulates her by threatening to send incriminating and destructive text messages if she doesn’t comply. Because Faye told everyone that she would be inaccessible and focusing on her writing, no one is looking for her. Days pass as Faye tries to navigate her lingering attraction to Henry alongside her terror at being held captive. Henry seems preoccupied with gaining access to her email, although Faye can’t understand why. 

After several days of captivity, Faye manages to escape and makes her way to a larger property on the island, hoping to call for help. She is shocked to find Campbell at the other property and quickly becomes suspicious that he is colluding with Henry. Campbell forces her to access her email and deletes Emma King’s screenplay (which Faye has not yet read). Faye again attempts to escape, and, in the ensuing struggle, she kills Campbell by striking him in the head. Henry returns and recaptures her. He finally reveals the motive behind the abduction. Twelve years earlier, when Henry, Campbell, and Faye were all college students, Henry accidentally killed PT’s wife Sarah by hitting her with his car. Campbell (who was in the car with Henry) convinced him to cover up the incident. Sarah had been struggling with infertility and depression, so they created evidence to imply that she died by suicide and buried her body on the island. 

The plan worked, and everyone, including PT, believed that Sarah died by suicide. However, years later, Campbell began an affair with Emma King, a young college student. He confided the secret about Sarah’s death to her and Emma wrote a screenplay detailing the events. When she submitted the screenplay to PT, he wondered if it could be true and dug up his wife’s body, buried in the exact location described in the screenplay. Horrified, PT confronted Campbell and Henry. However, he suffered a fatal heart attack that night, before going to the police. Henry and Campbell had the chance to ensure the truth was never revealed but they needed to make sure Faye never read the screenplay (which had already been emailed to her). They drugged and abducted her to gain access to her email and delete the evidence. 

Now that Campbell is dead, the plan has become more complicated. Henry plans to pass off the death as an accident but since Emma is also on the island, they need to ensure she never tells anyone that Henry and Faye were nearby when he died (as this would cast suspicions that they might have been involved in his death). Leading Emma to believe that they came to the island to carry out a secret affair, Faye bribes Emma into silence by promising her to help advance her career. Engineering this plan brings Faye and Henry closer, and they begin a consensual sexual relationship, reanimating their former dynamics of dominance and submission. However, after spending several days together at the cabin, Faye finds PT’s heart medication locked in the safe and realizes Henry has not been honest with her. He and Campbell purposefully stole PT’s medication after the latter confronted them about Sarah’s death, hoping he would suffer a fatal heart attack, and their secret would be safe. She manages to trap Henry in the cabin and attempts to flee. 

Faye encounters Corinne on another boat offshore. Believing that Corinne knows nothing about Henry and Campbell’s plan (or Campbell’s death), Faye stops to talk to her, but Corinne threatens Faye with a gun and forces her back to the island. Corinne frees Henry and it becomes clear that the two of them are colluding. Corinne reveals that she helped Campbell and Henry conceal Sarah’s death and has known the secret all along. Corinne also knows about Campbell’s affair with Emma and wants out of her marriage. PT’s death meant that Henry and Campbell jointly inherited his valuable property; Henry and Corinne both desperately wanted to sell the property (Henry is in severe financial difficulties), but Campbell refused. In addition to the plan to delete the screenplay from Faye’s email account, Corinne and Henry were also planning to kill Campbell so that they could sell the property and split the profits. Faye killing Campbell doesn’t change their plans: they will frame Emma for his murder, and have already planned to kill Emma as well, passing her death off as a suicide. 

Horrified and fearing they plan to kill her, Faye discreetly drops a note reading “help” on one of the island trails. However, Corinne reveals that they will leave Faye alive (her death will be too difficult to explain) but must ensure her silence. Corinne locks Faye and Henry in the cabin and demands they film a sex tape: This tape will act as collateral should Faye ever go to the police, and it will also disprove any claims that she was abducted and brought to the island unwillingly. Faye and Henry share their deepest emotional traumas, each confused about whether the other is being honest or manipulative. They film a passionate but ambiguous sexual encounter during which Faye herself struggles to understand whether she is being coerced or acting willingly. 

The next morning, police surround the cabin. They were alerted after two hikers found Faye’s note; the police have found Campbell’s body and taken Corinne into custody for questioning. Acting to protect herself and Henry, Faye claims that they are innocent victims being held hostage by Corinne. Police believe her story, which both she and Henry elaborate during subsequent questioning. Faye claims that she and Henry were having an affair and went to the island seeking privacy. They stumbled upon Corinne after she murdered Campbell and the former threatened them and then held them hostage in the cabin. Henry and Faye are released, and she hints at the two of them beginning a relationship. Then, the narrative breaks off, revealing that the entire account is a film pitch that Faye has been delivering to a group of Hollywood executives. 

In the pitch meeting, Faye explains that the story for the script was inspired after she attended a funeral for her former film professor and briefly saw her real-life college boyfriend. However, she claims that the lurid events depicted in the story are all fictional. Faye is in the process of divorcing her husband and he has been spreading rumors about her infidelity. This screenplay, titled Helpless, is her attempt to reclaim her narrative by blending fact with fiction. After the pitch, Faye runs into one of the executives, Claire, at a bar. Claire tells her that she is determined to make the film, seeing it as a brave and necessary exploration of female desire and power. As Claire prepares to leave, she notices that Faye is wearing a necklace identical to the one she described in her screenplay (it was a gift from Henry that she reclaimed during their time at the cabin). The presence of the necklace leaves Claire to question if the screenplay is entirely fictional, but Faye brushes aside the possibility. The novel ends on a note of ambiguity.