Novel of identity set in the Netherlands

Submitted: 29th April 2024

The Safekeep – Yael van der Wouden

A novel by a Dutch author that intrigued me. Currently learning Dutch but thankfully this is in English.
A novel of two women and a house.
A house as a place, a home and an identity.
A slow burn that build tension and drama
A novel that simmers….until it doesn’t…..

Map of locations in The Safekeep

BOARDING PASS INFORMATION

Destination : Netherlands

Author guide: Yael van der Wouden

Genre: historical, LGBTQ

Food and drink to accompany: Dutch pancakes!

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A novel to transport you to the Netherlands in the 1960s

Map of locations in The Safekeep

You know when you start a book expecting one thing but end up with something else, but that something else is even more delicious than first thought? That.

A woman, Isabel, lives in a house in the remote Dutch countryside. It’s her mother’s house and so is very important and symbolic to her. There is a lot of world building about this house, what it means and what it holds for the woman who lives there. Identity, love, relationships and more.

Another woman comes to stay after Isabel’s brother brings her but then he has to dash off to work. His brother’s girlfriend in fact. Now quite what Isabel expected but….and this is where the novel really shone. Isabel and Eva start to get to know each other and their relationship goes in the ways neither of them would have expected.

I found this a really gentle and poignant novel. The house is everything and was just as much a character as the women. What does it mean to be ‘at home’ and what does it mean to want to belong? You could spend an age studying the inner meaning of this novel but honestly, just as a story, it’s enough. There’s so many layers to it.

The location, the war filled background, the sixties and the sexual awakening that those years brought with them.

Recomended! One day, I will buy this in Dutch.