Helga & Andy

A romantic historical fiction novel by Jessica Noel

Currently in developmental edits, coming 2027.

Wordcount: 87k

Synopsis:

“Above all else, we humans love a good story. We need one, the way we need food, and air, and shelter.”

When painter Andrew Wyeth reveals his latest collection to his wife and business manager of forty-five years, Betsy Wyeth, he’s hopeful she’ll see the series as a massive, masterful success. But Betsy has questions about Andrew’s relationship to the subject of this series: their beautiful, blonde neighbor, Helga Testorf. Because the 246-piece-collection was created in secret, and kept hidden from Betsy over fifteen years, her confidence in their marriage begins to erode. 

Once the press discovers Betsy had no prior knowledge of the collection’s existence, a media frenzy explodes, resulting in Helga’s face printed on the covers of Newsweek and TIME magazine under captions like “Andrew Wyeth’s Stunning Secret.” According to most American journalists, the story is too good not to tell, even if no one knows the actual truth.

As Helga’s privacy and her own marriage unravel, The Helga Pictures become a global sensation and a symbol of America’s addiction to scandal. But was this publicity circus masterminded by Betsy Wyeth to drum up attention and execute a hefty price tag for the collection’s sale? Was this a scorned wife’s revenge on her husband’s lover? Only the sleepy hills of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania know the truth about what happened between Helga & Andy.

Noel’s Helga & Andy is for curious readers who love peeking through multi-generational keyholes to spy on complicated historical characters. Much like Ann Patchett’s Tom Lake or Caroline Cauchi’s Mrs Van Gogh, combined with the steamy tension of Deborah Moggach’s Tulip Fever, Helga & Andy draws the reader into cozy nooks, then surprises them with dramatic unveilings.