The Safekeep

* SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 BOOKER PRIZE * * WINNER OF THE NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION * Shortlisted for the 2025 WomenΓÇÖs Prize,Dylan Thomas Prizeand Aspen Words Literary Prize ΓÇó A Best Book of 2024: The New York TimesThe Washington PostLos Angeles TimesTimeThe EconomistThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kirkus ReviewsThe IndependentBookPageThe Sunday Times (London) ΓÇ£RemarkableΓǪCompellingΓǪFine and tautΓǪIndelible.ΓÇ¥ ΓÇöThe New York Times ΓÇó ΓÇ£Movingunnervingand deeply sexy.ΓÇ¥ ΓÇöTracy Chevalierauthor of Girl with the Pearl Earring ΓÇó ΓÇ£A brilliant debutas multi-faceted as a gem.ΓÇ¥ ΓÇöKirkus Reviews A ΓÇ£razor-sharpperfectly plottedΓÇ¥ (The Sunday TimesLondon) tale of desiresuspicionand obsession between two women staying in the same house in the Dutch countryside during the summer of 1961ΓÇöa powerful exploration of the legacy of WWII and the darker parts of our collective past. A house is a precious thing… It is 1961 and the rural Dutch province of Overijssel is quiet. Bomb craters have been filledbuildings reconstructedand the war is truly over. Living alone in her late motherΓÇÖs country homeIsabel knows her life is as it should beΓÇöled by routine and discipline. But all is upended when her brother Louis brings his graceless new girlfriend Evaleaving her at IsabelΓÇÖs doorstep as a guestto stay for the season. Eva is IsabelΓÇÖs antithesis: she sleeps latewalks loudly through the houseand touches things she shouldnΓÇÖt. In responseIsabel develops a fury-fueled obsessionand when things start disappearing around the houseΓÇöa spoona knifea bowlΓÇöIsabelΓÇÖs suspicions begin to spiral. In the sweltering peak of summerIsabelΓÇÖs paranoia gives way to infatuationleading to a discovery that unravels all Isabel has ever known. The war might not be well and truly over after alland neither EvaΓÇönor the house in which they liveΓÇöare what they seem. Mysterioussophisticatedsensualand infused with intrigueatmosphereand sexThe Safekeep is ΓÇ£a brave and thrilling debut about facing up to the truth of historyand to oneΓÇÖs own desiresΓÇ¥ (The Guardian).