The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden

Taut. Languid. Sensual. Provocative. Surprising. What a read!

Short, snappy summary:

I feel like the less you know about the plot of this book before reading, the better. So I’ll just share what I knew going in—which was only what was written on the back of the book:

It is fifteen years after the Second World War, and Isabel has built herself a solitary life of discipline and strict routine in her late mother’s country home, with not a fork or a word out of place. But all is upended when her brother Louis delivers his graceless new girlfriend, Eva, at Isabel’s doorstep – as a guest, there to stay for the season…

Why I loved this book:

This book really caught me off guard—in the best way. It did such a brilliant job exploring desire and memory, all through the lingering shadows of WWII. I keep finding myself thinking more in impressions than full sentences, so here’s a list of the words that come to mind:

Taut
Languid
Sensual
Provocative

Unhelpful of me - but hopefully you catch my drift.

You WON’T think this book is shitty if:

You want to read some really good writing. The writing is quietly brilliant—precise, immersive, and far more affecting than I anticipated. This Yael van der Wouden;s debut so I can only imagine what is to come from her.

You WILL think this book is shitty if:

You are good at guessing plot twists. Some people thought the twists in this book were obvious, but for the amount I read, I’m honestly never great at guessing where a story’s going. If you are good at that, maybe the slow unravelling I loved will feel incredibly frustrating to you.

Also, there’s a fair bit of sex—and the scenes do get kind of graphic. So if that’s not your thing, just a heads-up.

Favourite quote in the book:

She had held a pear in her hand and she had eaten it skin and all. She had eaten the stem and she had eaten its seeds and she had eaten its core, and the hunger still sat in her like an open maw. She thought: I can hold you and find that I still miss your body. She thought: I can listen to you speak and still miss the sound of your voice.

Goodreads Rating: 4.1

My Rating: 4.5