#32 The Safekeep, by Yael van der Wouden




Booker Prize: Shortlisted 2024

Plot Time and Place: The Netherlands, 1961

Opening sentence: "Isabel found a broken piece of ceramic under the roots of a dead gourd."

Plot summary: Two very different women meet and fall in love, but all is not what it seems...

Review: Wow. It's hard to imagine something better than this winning the Booker this year. (At the time of writing, the 2024 winner is not yet known). Really good writing, great story, makes you think about war, love, sibling relationships, historical injustices and repair, love between women, about loss, grief and obsession...

Rating: 4/5

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