The Safekeep cover art

The Safekeep

Winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2025

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 Months Free

£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Get this deal
Offer ends on 15 July 2026 at 11:59 BST.
More purchase options

The Safekeep

By: Yael van der Wouden
Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld, Stina Nielsen
Get this deal

£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £12.06

Buy Now for £12.06

Brought to you by Penguin.

WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE 2025
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2024
SHORTLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE 2025
LONGLISTED FOR THE WINGATE PRIZE 2025

An exhilarating tale of twisted desire, histories and homes, and the unexpected shape of revenge - for readers of Patricia Highsmith, Sarah Waters and Ian McEwan's Atonement.

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…

In the sweltering heat of summer, Isabel's desperate need for control reaches boiling point. What happens between the two women leads to a revelation which threatens to unravel all she has ever known.

'A thrilling, razor-sharp, perfectly plotted debut novel' Sunday Times

'Moving, unnerving and deeply sexy' Tracy Chevalier, bestselling author of GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING

'A brave and thrilling debut about facing up to the truth of history, and to one's own desires… Van der Wouden brings stunning power and control to her page-turner about trauma and repression' Justine Jordan, Booker Prize Judge 2024

©2024 Yael van der Wouden (P)2024 Penguin Audio

 Genre Fiction LGBTQIA+ Creators Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Psychological Women's Fiction World Literature Heartfelt War
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1

Critic reviews

I realise I’m quite late to this party but, my god, what a book. It’s an incredible novel, delicate yet tough, and pitted with narrative landmines. It blew me away. I haven’t been as enthralled by a novel for a long time. I have immediately insisted that everyone I know reads it. (Maggie O'Farrell)
The Safekeep seeped into my subconscious, took hold and stayed inside me even after I’d finished reading it. Breathtaking prose, febrile suspense and exceptional plot twist towards the end. So many wonderful novels out there, but this one really does stand out (Bernardine Evaristo)
Surprising, chilling, and electric. The Safekeep is a simply fantastic work of literature. (Alice Winn, bestselling author of IN MEMORIAM)
Yael van der Wouden's compelling , clever novel features several irresistible literary devices. A grand old house. A festering family secret. The shadow of the second world war. And plenty of erotic tension , bringing heat to a story that interrogates dark themes of antisemitism, displacement and inherited trauma...The thrill of Van der Wouden's sly book is that it feels both juicy and deeply important
The Safekeep is a dream of a novel — mesmerizing and shockingly good — it lulls you with the lyrical beauty of its words and then slams you awake with its raw passion and rage. Part silent scream, part breathless love story (Miranda Cowley Heller, bestselling author of THE PAPER PALACE)
Haunting and exquisitely poignant (Claire Fuller)
Moving, unnerving and deeply sexy (Tracy Chevalier, author of GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING)
The story is resolved in such a bold and tender way that it becomes not merely clever, but indelible (New York Times)
An impressive debut; I already look forward to Van der Wouden’s next
What a staggering book. Best thing I’ve read in quite a while (Patrick Radden Keefe)
All stars
Most relevant
I’m telling you right now this book is going to win awards. That little synopsis does not do the book justice. It’s a sapphic love story, it has a great structure the diary in part 3 just wraps this book up in a great bow.

Wow wow wow wow wow wow wow

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This really is a book in 3 parts. As a whole, the story is very thought provoking.

Parts 1 and 3 present compelling characters that I cared about, had a crisp, clean writing style and a story that was important to tell.

In part 2, however, since the payoff of the whole book means that the two main protagonists couldn't know one another's stories, the development of the relationship hung on physical intimacy, which could only develop and compel so far. I felt as though I had stepped into a Mills & Boon book where the characters were almost incidental. What had made Isa an interesting character at the beginning disappeared into mush.

Perhaps if I had been reading rather than listening it would have been different, but the breathy style of the reader made the writing seem even more syrupy and it felt incredibly repetitive. I started to get very bored and nearly gave up on the book.

What kept me listening was the promise that was created of decent character development in part 1 of the book, and part 3 brought the payoff which I was very glad I stayed with. The character of Eva was so different here, that I wished I had seen more of her personality in part two - which could have happened without revealing parts of her story that needed to stay hidden. I think part two could have been far more nuanced and character driven.

Once I got to part 3, I listened to it in one go and started to care about the characters again, wanting to know what would happen to them. I felt that I had come away from the book learning something important.

So overall I'd recommend, but say stick with it if like me you find yourself switching off in the middle.

Substantial bread with a syrupy filling

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Wonderful story, deeply felt and written. Highly recommend. A beautiful story for all the ages.

Beautiful story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
An unexpected narrative - original, intriguing characterisation - elegant style - an important angle on post WW2 history

Deeply stirring

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
An eye-opening reframing of small town cultural conflict during and especially after WW2 in the Netherlands.

Redirect and rich prose.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews