This was an unusual choice for me, but as I enjoy reading books in translation - and haven’t ever read one by an author from the Netherlands - I wanted to give it a try.

Set in the early 1960s it tells the story of an insular young woman whose relationship with her family home is the only real relationship in her life. When her brother suggests his girlfriend moves in with her whilst he works abroad for a few months, her world is turned upside down in more ways than one.

I wanted to like this book. The reason for Eva wanting to infiltrate Isabel’s life adds an interesting twist that I didn’t suspect, but in general the sexual tension between the two characters - and the way their relationship develops - felt just a little bit forced and sudden given how emotionally repressed Isabel is suggested to be in earlier chapters.

The war causes Isabel, her brothers Hendrik and Louis, and their mother to flee Amsterdam for the quiet safety of a large, rambling house in a rural part of The Netherlands. Now, years later in the 1960s, her mother dead and her brothers gone, Isabel lives alone in the house. Always a solitary soul and an outsider, she becomes inextricably linked to the house, its walls and contents all tangible links to her mother. She spends her days obsessively ordering the house, making sure everything is where it belongs.

A childhood of leaving and loss has left Isabel cold and withdrawn but beneath the irritability and anxious need for order is a yearning. When her flakey and carefree brother Louis needs to travel for work and asks to leave Eva, his latest in a long line of girlfriends, in the house with Isabel, she is appalled at this irritating invasion of her space. But as irritability turns to something else, Eva unleashes a whole new side of Isabel, and her eyes are opened to a side of herself, and her own history, that she perhaps in some way always suspected but never really acknowledged.

This is an absolutely striking and enthralling debut. Exploring themes of displacement, loneliness, loss, need, burning desire, anger, childhood memory and the dark legacy of war, this is an atmospheric, absorbing and highly charged read. Isabel is an intriguing and multi-layered character, and the narrative style, often breathless - many sentences of the dialogue left unfinished, trailing off or cut short - adds to the tension, the anxiety, the sense of awkwardness, uncertainty and volatility that pervades both the story and Isabel’s own inner life. She has lived a life of loneliness until someone comes into it, filling a void and unleashing a desire, an all-consuming need for connection, for touch, that has possibly been simmering there all along.

The writing is atmospheric, with care given to creating a sense of place, the breezy, creaking rambling house and garden almost becoming a character in itself. With transportive, immersive writing and a plot turn that is absolutely captivating, exploring a dark time in history through the compelling story of one lonely woman, I loved this.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my DRC.

I am giving this book five stars for its prose, its characterisation and the intriguing relationships that are slowly revealed. However, I do not want to write a long review as I do not want to give away any spoilers. Having a great aunt who lived in Holland and hid a Jewish boy during the war, I felt I knew quite a lot about the Second World War and how it affected Holland but I most certainly did not know about post war Holland which to me, after reading this fictionalised but nevertheless historical novel, was almost as shocking as what happened during the war. This book should be in all school libraries. Thank you Netgalley for giving me an advance copy.

What an astonishing book. This will stay with me for a long time. Tension , in the writing, which retains a huge part of the original language in its restrained and sparse character, and also the progress of the narrative. There is a darkness hidden in its history, which we can only guess at in the opening chapters. Descriptions are never sentimental, but are often heart stopping in a way that looking at a beautiful Dutch painting is. There is colour and depth to it. The main character really is the house, it seems to have been imbued with as much character as the occupants of the strange and beautiful tale.
I may read it again.

Really loved this, felt romantic in a similar way to Portrait of a Lady on Fire but with the added political and moral concerns of post-WW2 Netherlands - a historical viewpoint I felt was really valuable, made this more than just a historical romance and gave added important depth to the narrative. My only issue with this book and why I'm hesitant to give it a full five stars is that I felt the character development from the protagonist was too fast and without much internal conflict - she starts out being a very unlikable, repressed character but once she's fallen in love she drops most of the unpleasant aspects of her character, I didn't feel that transition was particularly believable. I would also have loved to spend more time with Eva's point of view - she seems really compelling as a character but the majority of the book we spend with Isabel. At a tight 256 pages this is quite a short book and I think letting it breathe a little and spend more time with those aspects would have bumped it up to a five stars from me. But a great book (a debut novel!! astonishing), and I'm looking forward to seeing what the author does next.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book with no obligation to review.

I enjoyed this book and the characters, interactions and dialogue all ring true. I was surprised at how things work out for Isabel and although I guessed Eva's secret, it was still a good one and didnt spoil the story,

i always try to root for the underdog but at the start of the book Isabel is really so unnecessarily unpleasant to everyone. She seems older than her years and it's hard to remember that Eva is older than Isabel.

There is a lot of water in the book, a lot of mist and rain and I felt there was a misty quality to the writing. I am not sure how to explain it but I could just see the wide landscapes and I was reminded of Dutch watercolour paintings.

I also learned something about Holland and the Nazi invasion and what happened to the people who were taken away and what happened to their possessions. I had not really given that any thought before. I knew that In Nazi Germany people moved into other people's houses but I had not thought about Holland where, it appears, the houses were obtained by a more "legal" process through bank repossession and sale which does beg the question "who really owns the house?"

An enjoyable and interesting read.

This isn't your run of the mill historical novel, this is something extra special. The main characters Isabel and Eva are connected in so many ways, some which you will love, some which will shock. Recent historical events are so relevant to today's society and it is bound to spark conversation and debate about rights and possession. Definitely a special read.

In "The Safe Keep" readers embark on a journey into the world of keeping a house and the relationships connected to a house. This charming book offers a unique insight into the intricacies of household management, making even the most mundane tasks seem extraordinary. The relationships between the siblings and their partners draws the reader in from the beginning and you are interested until the very last sentence.

The author's subtle storytelling and attention to detail create a vivid picture of the daily routines and challenges faced by the protagonist, Isabel. Each activity is described with precision, drawing the reader into the world of Isabel.

I would highly recommend "The Safekeep" to readers. The author's ability to capture the reader's interest from start to finish is truly commendable.

Set in a rural area of Holland, in 1961, the story centres on Isabel, who lives a disciplined, austere life in the home of her late mother. The scar of WW2 lurks like a malevolent ghost in the background. Isabel's ordered life is seriously challenged when her brother Louis' girlfriend, Eva, comes to stay for an extended period. Tension builds, as Isabels dislike for Eva escalates, which leads to an inevitable, but surprising showdown that forces Isabel to question everything about her life. I loved the first two thirds of the novel, but the denouement felt rushed and less convincing. Well worth reading though.

Set in the 1960s, The Safekeep follows Isabel - a paranoid Dutch woman living alone in a borrowed house following the death of her mother. Louis, the heir to the house and her elder brother, introduces her and the younger brother, Hendrick, to Eva - his newest girlfriend. Isabel forms an instant dislike to Eva and is horrified to learn that she will be staying with her in the house while Louis goes on a buisness trip. We follow the relationship between the two women and how they influence each others' ideas and perspectives.

While I really enjoyed the writing style of this, I couldn't help but feel that this book focused less on a plot and more on the journey of self-discovery that narrow-minded Isabel went on. For the first two parts, we stick mainly to Isabel's perspective and it can be draining to read - I nearly put the book down half-way through as a result. I am so glad that I kept with The Safekeep as it really picks up in Part 3. The LGBT themes were written beautifully and reflected the joy and struggles that people went through during this time period.

Overall, despite the few mistakes in editing, this is a good read and a great debut novel from van der Wouden!

Such a lovely book. Very unique and different type of book I’m used to reading. It is written well. Would recommend this.

The Netherlands in the Spring of 1961. Isabel Den Brave, aged 30, lives alone in her deceased parents’ house in Zwolle in the east of the country. She is single, spiky and rather eccentric. When her brother Louis’ girlfriend Eva is dumped on her to stay for a month while Louis is working abroad, matters begin to get complicated for Isabel. And the narrative moves in a direction that this reader had not anticipated.
From the first pages of the book, the author makes it clear that there is a back-story to Isabel’s tenancy of the house, which her family initially occupied during the Second World War. This is only developed towards the end of the story, and perhaps could be anticipated from hints provided by Van der Wouden, but nonetheless does not make the account any the less disturbing. The story is carefully observed, picking at the minutiae of human behaviour and the mundane experience and small constant challenges and minor pleasures of living from day to day. The historical context initially is light – Netherlands is a provincial country still recovering from the occupation by Germany in the War that ended just 15 years ago, but one that is slowly emerging into the recognisable modernity that swept through west Europe in the 1960s. But the backstory from the War brings to the fore some very dark events that complicate further the plot as well as the conventional narrative that the Netherlands has about its role as victim of German aggression. This is an admirable, engaging and intelligent story from a talented author.

The Safekeep novel I found the book Relations are Portrayed to be captivating because of the way it portrayed the complex relationships within a family. The author did a great job of using symbolic language to convey the story without getting bogged down in too many details. The writing style was smooth and velvety, making it an enjoyable read. Overall, I think this novel was well-crafted and a nice story.

The initial allure of The Safekeep faded quickly as the narrative, poised to be a tale of psychological suspense, delivers a conventional, and occasionally trite, story. The novel’s tense atmosphere quickly gave way to a sentimentality that felt unearned and out-of-place, disappointingly milquetoast (better suited to a generic period-drama if you ask me).

In the summer of 1961 in the quiet Dutch province of Overijssel, Isabel, living alone in her late mother's country home, finds her daily routine disrupted by the unwelcome arrival of Eva, her brother Louis’ latest girlfriend. Despite her protestations, Louis, the ‘official’ owner of the house, forces his decision onto Isabel before setting off. Eva is very much an unwanted guest and behaves in a way that sets Isabel’s teeth on edge. Isabel, already prone to paranoia and possessing a rather sanctimonious outlook, abhors Eva. She seems to believe that Eva’s girlish, laid-back nature is a front and soon suspects her of stealing when several items go missing. Now and again they spend time with Isabel’s other brother, who to her disapproval is living with a close male ‘friend’ of his.
Nothing much happens beyond a series of domestic scenes in which Isabel is depicted as a repressed, slightly neurotic woman who, like many repressed fictional characters before her, lets out her frustration and anger by stuffing her face into a towel or a pillow or whatnot and screaming. Or giving Bateman-spiraling-over-a-business-card energy. I’m not against conceal don’t feel type of characters, (eg. the lucys authored by Brontë and Kincaid or one of Shirley Jackson’s girlies), or ones who become fixated or obsessed with someone they are also suspicious of (These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever, Apartment by Teddy Wayne), but Isabel, who is neither complex nor intriguing enough for me to feel any sort of way towards her, fails to evolve beyond a one-dimensional character. Her contradictions and inner conflicts lack depth and come across as contrived and uninspiring. The promised exploration of her 'forbidden' attraction feels forced and fails to make her a compelling or fleshed-out character. Eva, the object of Isabel’s desire, was even less interesting. Her character consists of a series of thin impressions, making her into a barely-there sort of presence. This is surprising given that she is meant to be the catalyst to Isabel, the reason behind the ‘unravelling’ of her studied outer self. We are probably meant to find Eva to be the more approachable character, but I found her for the most part to be forgettable, although occasionally she did strike me as irritating. Her hidden agenda felt disappointingly moviesque, especially the way her backstory is presented to us…it was very giving historical melodrama, which may work for many, but does zilch for me.

The novel initially promises to be something more in the realm of psychological suspense, a story where we follow the type of character that is rather off-putting. Isabel is unyielding, rather misanthropic, and believes herself to be the subject of many slights. I was fine with her being this type of character, after all, two of my favorite novels are Giovanni’s Room and Madame Bovary, both of which focus on morally reprehensible characters…but then along the way Isabel’s arc ends up being surprisingly sentimental.

There were so many scenes in The Safekeep that should have made me feel a certain degree of something but I just didn’t buy into them. Supposedly charged moments and tense discussions didn’t land, often because they seemed overly dramatic in a way that felt unearned, forced even. I didn’t buy into Isabel’s obsession with Eva, mostly because Eva is for the most part portrayed as very wishy-washy. I’m not against narratives where one character is projecting their feelings onto another character, or letting their paranoia tinge their understanding of another person (their personality, their ‘true’ motivations), or where the central relationship is very much push/pull, but here...the supposed tension, or chemistry, between these two women felt simultaneously rushed and overdone. I would have preferred more of a slow burner, but they go from nothing to 100% in a way that took away from the novel’s initial atmosphere of ambivalence. I was surprised by how banal the plot was. The main characters were dramatic in a way that brought to mind The World Cannot Give by Tara Isabella Burton, a novel I don’t care for in the slightest. The side characters were very one-note, and Isabel’s brother's story was presented to us in a way that made me think of so many period dramas (in other words, cliched).

It’s frustrating because van der Wouden’s writing is top-notch and those first chapters were very absorbing. Her descriptions of the house and its contents, as well as the way she describes the characters’ expressions and body language, were very well done. Her writing style exudes a cool, polished quality reminiscent of Barbara Vine, Sarah Waters, and Magda Szabó. On paper, The Safekeep explores compelling themes. Against the backdrop of the 1960s, the narrative has the opportunity to unveil the societal expectations and constraints placed on women. Isabel's adherence to conservative values leads her to perceive her burgeoning attraction to Eva as morally 'wrong.' Additionally, her prejudices extend to those outside her racial, cultural, and class spheres. The novel does allow us to see how Isabel's narrow mindset becomes a self-imposed trap, hindering her from experiencing true fulfillment, living in the shadow of her mother and resentful of her brothers' freedom. The central themes of inherited guilt and reparations are also pivotal to the narrative. However, the way these issues are handled struck me as somewhat schematic, leaning towards a simplistic and moralizing tone.

Alas, the novel’s initial tense atmosphere just...fizzles out. I’m all for books where fraught character dynamics are at the centre stage, but here Isabel and Eva lacked substance, consequently, their friction and their developing relationship left me feeling very uninvolved. Maybe the reason I was so unbothered by this novel is that I read it not long after reading Winter Love, an overlooked lesbian classic narrated by someone not that dissimilar from Isabel herself (Han Suyin's narrator is aloof, unpleasant even) who embarks into a love affair with a married woman. Or I just have come across this type of dynamic and atmosphere in several other novels (Sweet Days of Discipline by Fleur Jaeggy, The Inseparables by Simone de Beauvoir, and Passing by Nella Larsen, Belladonna by Anbara Salam, books by Danzy Senna, Patricia Highsmith).
van der Wouden's is a clearly talented writer, it's a pity that her novel falls victim to a lacklustre execution.

Still, in spite of my negative review, I encourage prospective readers to give van der Wouden's debut a shot. I may have simply been unable to enjoy it due to my overexposure to this type of genre. If you liked Claire Fuller's Bitter Orange or Ian McEwan's Atonement, or if you happen to enjoy the historical fiction penned by authors like Rose Tremain, there's a good chance you will find van der Wouden's debut to be a satisfying reading experience.

Somehow this book just did not come alive for me. I couldn't quite relate to any of the characters or the relationships between them.

The premise was excellent, highlighting the long-lasting repercussions of WW2, but rather than being anxious to keep reading I found it rather hard going.

I did not expect the happy ending, at odds with all that went before, and I fear that happiness would not endure long-term.

I quite liked the writing style and found Isabel rather amusing with her old fashioned ways. It felt more like the 1940’s than the 60’s but we hear so much of the swinging 60’s and don’t perhaps realise how close they were! Although I liked the story I found it very slow and the developing relationship between Isabel and Eva felt very drawn out and a bit boring. I had guessed the twist relating to Eva from an early stage and it did bring home the terrible events relating to the Second World War.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Books for this ARC

This is a slow burning novel that lures you in before revealing its truths, I couldn’t help but think of modern parallels with what is happening on the West Bank with Israeli settlers stealing Palestinian’s homes. Disturbing and compelling.

I like that this offers a less travelled (in fiction) view of the complicated aftermath of WW2 but I wish I could have felt the same passion for this book as other reviewers. I found the writing hard to parse as it feels foggy and a bit baggy, and I had guessed the Eva plot from early on. Still, it's a salutary reminder of how close the 1960s were to the end of the war with repercussions still reverberating through society.

(Thank you to NetGalley for the free ARC!)

The description of The Safekeep caught my eye immediately while browsing, and I'm ever thankful it did. 1961, Isabel's brother's girlfriend, Eva, comes to stay for part of the summer. Isabel has always kept to herself, gone about life her own rigid way--Eva, her antithesis, is more than happy to disturb the perfectly curated quiet Isabel has lived in for years. But sharing a house, silences, and moments for weeks is bound to birth desire.

An absolutely brilliant piece of historical fiction, this novel held me in ways similar to Our Wives Under the Sea, another book I simply adored. Eva and Isabel's characters worked so well together (even when they weren't getting along), and the writing style was well-reflective of the personalities in the novel. I flew through this and became utterly immersed in the world Yael pieced together; closing the book was as satisfying as it was hard.

Cannot wait for more from this author, should we ever get it! One of my favourite reads of 2024.

I'm a sucker for a good historical romance and boy does this deliver!

It is gripping and unexpected, I really enjoyed the writing and the characters, I loved Isabel's character and I equally enjoyed Eva's.

I will definitely be picking up a physical copy.

[Thank you Netgalley, Penguin and the author for giving me an e-arc in exhange for an honest review]