The Safekeep (2024) by Yael van der Wouden

 Book Review

The Safekeep (2024)

by Yael van der Wouden

   The Safekeep is the first 2024 Booker Longlist book I've read since they announced last month.  A now common experience is realizing that some of the books haven't been published in the USA yet, particularly galling since that includes two potential winners- the new Rachel Kushner book and Richard Powers latest offering.  Before the longlist was announced, I'd already tackled There There by Tommy Orange and Jim by Percival Everett in my book club.  Another nominee, Knockout by Rita Bullwinkle is my next book club pick.  I'm unlikely to read a new Claire Messud novel, which means there are only a half dozen or so books to look at from the longlist- with two of those not being out in the US.

  The Safekeep got a great review in the New York Times in May, with the subheading describing it as "tricky [and] remarkable."  That is code for "this is a really good book."  I think I put in on my library request list- both the Audiobook and the book itself.  By the time my request was granted, the Booker Longlist had been announced (end of July) and The Safekeep was on it.  Enough time had gone by that I was initially confused about the very nature of the book- thinking perhaps that it might be translated from Dutch and maybe nominated for the Booker International Prize instead of the Prize itself.  As I now know, The Safekeep was written in English by a resident of the UK but it is set in and about the Netherlands in the post-WWII era. 

   Describing a new release of literary fiction as "tricky" tells a potential reader that there is something going on with the plot- as simple as a third act plot twist or as complicated as something that experiments with reader expectations in a modernist/post-modernist fashion.   "Remarkable" just means that it is really good without being specific about how or why.  After listening to the Audiobook I agree with both descriptions, though I would add that I was half way through the listen before I really got on board- which itself is a sign of a good book- one that draws you in.

   When I started listening to the Audiobook I was immediately struck at how little I liked the protagonist Isabel- a young Dutch woman living alone in the house her family retreated to during World War II.  Her Mom is dead, leaving her alone in the house, which is promised to her older brother- a man-about-town type.  There's also a gay brother who left home as soon as he could, and a shy maid that Isabel enjoys bossing around.  Isabel's careful equilibrium is ruptured when she has Eva, feckless Louis' lay-of-the-month thrust upon her when Louis is called away on business and Eva has just lost her apartment.

   At the most basic level, The Safekeep is a spicy LGBT love story set in 1960's Netherlands- and it works at that level.  But then there is the "tricky" and "remarkable" part of it, which defies the format of a blog post.  I'll say this much- I wouldn't be surprised if The Safekeep makes the Booker shortlist.