I bought Yael van der Wouden‘s The Safekeep knowing nothing about it, based on the recommendation in the Rosamond Reads Substack. Rosamond and I have similar enough tastes that I felt confident buying it in hardcover (from a newly opened and adorable indie bookstore in Nottawa, Ontario). It’s a historical romance set in the Netherlands in the early 1960s. Almost none of those criteria make a book sound appealing to me, but this book is brilliant.

Here’s what Rosamond had to say about The Safekeep:

HOLY SHIT. I mean woweee wow wow wow. This is it, people. This one really did it for me. I won’t tell you much because I went in knowing almost nothing…All I’ll say is this novel is extremely gay, and if A24 doesn’t turn this into a dark, broody, sapphic drama, well that is very much our loss. We’ve got two women in an old house in rural Netherlands and all is not as it seems…I’m not done yelling about this book and that’s a promise.

I’ll second that. I don’t want to say more because the slightest outline of the plot could contain spoilers. And the book goes in some directions that are simply too good to spoil (though find me on Twitter or Instagram if you want to discuss it!). I was immensely glad that I went into it blind, I recommend it to any reader without hesitation. Unless you’re a prude, I guess.

The writing and translation are just gorgeous. I picked up the book at about 1pm on a Saturday and finished it by 10am on Sunday. I audibly gasped a few times. It’s also somewhat steamier than my usual reads.  

The Safekeep has been nominated for the Booker Prize — you can see the interview with van der Wouden here, read an excerpt (the opening 2 pages or so) here. Waterstones did a short video where van der Wouden shares some recommendations (including all-timer Rebecca), and the way she describes her other two picks have put them on my Christmas list:

Anyway. Read this, and come discuss it with me. And read Rosamond’s substack, her recommendations (and dogs) are top-notch.

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