The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden has captivated readers and critics alike, earning a spot on the longlist for the 2025 Aspen Words Literary Prize and being celebrated as one of the Best Books of 2024 by The Washington Post, Time, Kirkus Reviews, BookPage, and The Sunday Times (London). Praised as “remarkable” by The New York Times and “a brilliant debut” by Kirkus Reviews, this provocative novel is a razor-sharp exploration of obsession, desire, and the lingering shadows of history. Set in the Dutch countryside during the summer of 1961, The Safekeep offers an unforgettable tale of unraveling mysteries and repressed truths, inviting readers into a world both haunting and deeply sensual.
The Safekeep pdf Summary
The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden is a gripping tale of obsession, suspicion, and buried truths set in the serene Dutch countryside during the summer of 1961. This debut novel masterfully weaves an intimate exploration of desire and paranoia with the lingering shadows of World War II, uncovering the darker corners of history and the human psyche.
Isabel lives a solitary and orderly life in her late mother’s rural home in Overijssel, where the scars of the war have been carefully concealed. But her tranquil existence is disrupted when her brother Louis arrives with his unruly girlfriend, Eva, leaving her as an uninvited guest for the season.
Eva is everything Isabel is not—carefree, loud, and unapologetically intrusive. The clash of their personalities sparks an intense fixation in Isabel, as Eva’s presence upends the rhythms of her home. When small items begin to vanish—a spoon here, a bowl there—Isabel’s irritation transforms into a simmering paranoia. As the summer heat intensifies, so does Isabel’s obsession, which soon blurs into a dangerous infatuation.
But the secrets uncovered in this suffocating house go far deeper than Isabel’s unspoken desires. As tensions escalate, revelations surface that challenge everything Isabel believes, revealing that neither the war nor its consequences are truly in the past—and that both Eva and the house itself hold secrets far more sinister than she could have imagined.
Sensual, enigmatic, and filled with atmospheric tension, The Safekeep is a captivating exploration of human frailty, desire, and the inescapable echoes of history. This is a debut you’ll remember long after the final page.
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