An exhilarating tale of twisted desire, histories and homes, and the unexpected shape of revenge
It's fifteen years since the Second World War and the rural Dutch province of Overijssel is quiet. Bomb craters have been filled, buildings reconstructed, and the conflict is well and truly over. Living alone in her late mother's country home, Isabel's life is as it should be — led by routine and discipline. But all is upended when her brother Louis delivers his graceless new girlfriend, Eva, at Isabel's doorstep-as a guest, there to stay for the season...
Eva is Isabel's antithesis- she sleeps late, wakes late, walks loudly through the house and touches things she shouldn't. In response Isabel develops a fury-fuelled obsession, and when things start disappearing around the house — a spoon, a knife, a bowl - Isabel's suspicions spiral out of control. In the sweltering heat of summer, Isabel's desperate desire for order transforms into infatuation — leading to a discovery that unravels all she has ever known. The war might not be well and truly over after all, and neither Eva — nor the house — are what they seem.
About the Author Yael van der Wouden is a writer and teacher. She currently lectures in creative writing and comparative literature in the Netherlands. Her essay on Dutch identity and Jewishness, \"On (Not) Reading Anne Frank\", has received a notable mention in The Best American Essays 2018.
The Safekeep is her debut novel and was acquired in hotly-contested nine-way auctions in both the UK and the US. Rights have sold in a further twelve countries.
Industry Reviews
Surprising, chilling, and electric. The Safekeep is a simply fantastic work of literature. * Alice Winn, bestselling author of In Memoriam *
The Safekeep is a dream of a novel - mesmerizing and shockingly good - it lulls you with the lyrical beauty of its words and then slams you awake with its raw passion and rage. Part silent scream, part breathless love story - I was utterly blown away. -- Miranda Cowley Heller, bestselling author of The Paper Palace
An astonishingly skillful debut, The Safekeep manages the rare trick of being both gripping and intimate. A twisting, elegant, intriguing story about the secrets we hide in our homes and hearts - and how it only takes one person to unlock the past. -- Joanna Quinn, bestselling author of THE WHALEBONE THEATRE
Haunting and exquisitely poignant -- Claire Fuller
Moving, unnerving and deeply sexy -- Tracy Chevalier, author of Girl with A Pearl Earring
The Safekeep is a beautiful book, highly charged, tense, shocking and heartbreaking in equal measure....One of those rare books that feels as if it's been there all along, waiting to be given a voice. And what a voice this is. -- Rachel Joyce
