THE SAFEKEEP: A Novel
by Yael van der Wouden
Avid Reader Press (Simon & Schuster). 272 pages, $28.99
RECENTLY SHORTLISTED for the 2024 Booker Prize, The Safekeep may seem at first to be a historical novel about a complicated lesbian relationship. But this debut novel soon evolves into a fraught tale about interpersonal attraction and layers of generational pain based upon deceit. Possession of a childhood home and the persistence of memories drive the novel forward and permeate the characters’ relationships.
Thus begins a complicated, sensual game that increases in psychological intensity as the novel unfolds. Items go missing one by one even as their sexual tension pushes Eva and Isabel’s boundaries of self-identity. Each gives in to the other’s seduction, but suspicion, manipulation, and jealousy continue to haunt their interactions. They tread cautiously around each other, aware of Louis’ eventual return.
The theme of possession—of physical objects, of another person, of one’s sense of self—runs strongly through the novel. Isabel believes everything in the house belongs to her, including Eva. For her part, Eva is preoccupied with possessing specific objects—a spoon, a candlestick, a menorah—that she claims as her own, testing to see Isabel’s reaction. As the story unfolds, the objects stolen reveal Eva’s deeper motivation.
As their attraction to each other grows, jealousy intensifies. Eva is seen writing in her diary, which provokes curiosity from Isabel but also resentment. What could Eva be keeping from her? Isabel becomes increasingly territorial not only about the house but also about her guest. When Louis signals his return, the threat to their relationship brings unexpected decisions and a reckoning with the past. The direct, tense prose lends emotion and impact to the denouement.
What looms over the narrative is the recent history of World War II. There are memories that linger and gnaw for both women. The more they get to know one another, the more complicated their memories become, arousing suspicions about the past and uncovering uncomfortable truths. The novel blends historical trauma with the unreliability of memory. Each woman is motivated by childhood remembrances: Eva’s center on revenge, Isabel’s on protection. By the final pages, the courage to confront complicity, pain, and illicit love brings the novel to a formidable conclusion. _______________________________________________________
