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The Safekeep

By Yael van der Wouden
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Brief Description
The Safekeep is shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2024. This exhilarating tale explores twisted desire, histories and homes, and the unexpected shape of revenge. It is fifteen years after the Second World War, and Isabel has built herself a solitary life of discipline and strict routine... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
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The Safekeep is shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2024. This exhilarating tale explores twisted desire, histories and homes, and the unexpected shape of revenge.

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...

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780241999776

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 12 June 2025

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 15.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 200g

Pages: 256

Collections

2025 Best Sellers Best Sellers at Book Hero Best Selling Books Fiction General Fiction Historical Fiction In Stock Books In-Stock Fiction Books New Release Fiction New Zealand's Best Selling Books Penguin Books Yael van der Wouden

About the Author

Yael van der Wouden was born in 1987 and lives and works in The Netherlands. The Safekeep, her debut novel, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2024. It was also longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize, the Wingate Prize, and the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. She lectures in creative writing and comparative literature.

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  • The Safekeep
    An exhilarating tale of twisted desire, histories and homes, and the unexpected shape of revenge. 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...
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    SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 BOOKER PRIZE WINNER OF THE NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION WINNER OF THE 2025 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION Shortlisted for the 2025 Dylan Thomas Prize and Aspen Words Literary Prize - A Best Book of 2024: The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Time, The Economist, The Globe and Mail (Toronto),...
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