Written by Yael van der Wouden, The Safekeep tells the story of recluse Isabel, who lives alone in her family home. With the occasional visits from her brothers, Louis and Hendrik, what will happen when the oldest of the three brings home his girlfriend—Eva, a girl unlike any Isabel has ever met? Once neat and fastidious in her late mother’s home, and haunted by a recurring paranoia over disappearing household objects, Isabel’s control of the house begins to fall apart after Eva’s arrival, whose unpredictability and nonchalance unsettle her.
Set in a late 1960s summer in the Netherlands, we witness the evolution of these complex characters, grappling with their own individual, complicated pasts. This slow-burning, romantic novel reminded me of all things Queer, Lady of a Portrait on Fire, and Call Me By Your Name—its storyline reflecting the complexities of having a queer relationship in the late 1960s, and approaching the search for one’s identity within family members. Both Isabel and Eva’s relationship and the exploration of their identities are so complex and beautiful, as they assist each other to come out of their respective shells. Recurring themes of natural imagery (hares, especially!), home, generational familial trauma, and fruits allow this novel to become both sensual and emotional.
Ultimately, from the novel’s twist, the author provides her perspective on the aftermath of the Holocaust—something you do not typically see in books and media. The twist in itself had me in a chokehold, as I had to pause annotating my edition in order to focus on what is being revealed to us as readers.
I was continuously impressed by Wouden’s writing style, and while some parts of the dialogue felt a bit clunky, the storyline—filled with obsession, desire, and exhilaration—makes this a necessary book to add to your ‘To-Be-Read List.’
Illustration provided by the University of Edinburgh’s Book Club Society