Fabulous Fiction Firsts #844

Wed, 10/02/2024 - 5:30pm by muffy

Shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize, (and the ONLY debut novel to be named) The Safekeep* *  by Yael van der Wouden (author website), which the judges called “a compelling and atmospheric story of obsession and secrets… (is) a novel that explores the things that are kept from us as children and the things we tell ourselves about our own hidden desires." (Also available in downloadable eBook and audiobook.)

Summer, 1961. In the rural Dutch province of Overijssel, Isabel lives alone in her late mother's country home. Fastidious and compulsive, she spends her days counting and caring for all the objects that came with the house when the family moved there in 1944. But her routine and discipline are upended when Louis, her older brother who inherited the property announces that his new girlfriend Eva will move in for the summer while he travels for work. Eva is messy, sleeps late and is too friendly with the maid. When things start disappearing around the house, Isabel's suspicions begin to spiral. At that point, the story takes an unexpected and dramatic turn that leads to stunning realizations about the women's entwined history.

“This is a beautifully realized book, nearly perfect, as van der Wouden quietly explores the intricate nuances of resentment-hued sibling dynamics, the discovery of desire (and the simultaneous discovery of self), queer relationships at a time when they went unspoken, and the legacy of war and what it might mean to have been complicit in its horrors. A brilliant debut, as multifaceted as a gem.” (Kirkus Reviews) 

"For readers who appreciate introspective historical fiction and LGBTQ+ coming out stories."(Booklist)

* * = 2 starred reviews