The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden is one of the most talked-about recent releases readers keep adding to their lists and it is easy to see why: postwar Holland, a tense household and a desire that upends everything.
What it's about
Yael van der Wouden's debut simmers in a 1960s Dutch farmhouse where a rigid, solitary woman is forced to host her brother's unsettling girlfriend and buried history and unexpected desire ignite. It is a slow-burn of suspicion and longing that builds to a revelation which recasts everything.
Why everyone's talking about it
The Safekeep was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the Women's Prize for Fiction, an extraordinary run for a debut, making it one of the most celebrated literary novels of its year.
The verdict, for now
If you love a tightly wound, sensual literary novel with a knockout twist, this is essential. Come for the household tension, stay for the turn that reframes the whole book.
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