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The Crack Magazine

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The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden

Yael van der Wouden’s first novel – which was shortlisted for the Booker this year – is one of the most striking debuts I’ve read in a while. It’s set in 1961. The Netherlands. Isabel lives alone, save the attentions of a housekeeper, in the family home. Her mother and father are both dead, but she has two brothers who live elsewhere. The youngest of these is Hendrik, and he lives with his French-Algerian boyfriend. It’s a situation that his siblings can’t quite bring themselves to acknowledge, despite homosexuality being legal in the country since early in the 19th century. Isabel’s older brother is Louis and he’s a bit of a gadfly, flitting from one girlfriend to the next. His latest paramour is Ava and the pair are shacked up together. When Isabel and Hendrik meet Ava for the first time, they find her a touch unsophisticated; but that’s nothing to the dismay Isabel feels when Louis, tasked with working away for a while, suggests that Ava move in with Isabel at the family home for a month or so. When Ava does move in, Isabel discovers that Ava is not quite the woman she thought she was. ‘The Safekeep’ is an exquisitely told tale. Van der Wouden’s prose feels almost distilled, as if she’s managed to filter out extraneous detail until all that is left is a satisfying richness. She’s also written a story that sings with an extraordinary sensuality (I needed a cold shower halfway through) while also keeping the revelations coming as the narrative pot bubbles away. RM

Published by Viking

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