tascha reviewed The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden
An exhilarating tale of twisted desire, histories and homes, and the unexpected shape of revenge …
into it (with reservations)
4 stars
Content warning big spoiler about ending! don't read unless you've read!
Sexual tension? Through the roof, I was GRIPPED.
Historical fiction for people who think they don’t like historical fiction? Yes, indeed! If you, too, suspect you'll never make it through Wolf Hall, this is the historical-ish fiction for you.
Also: a WW2 detail I had no clue about and now cannot stop thinking about as I cycle through the centre of Amsterdam by night and see all the perfect multi-million euro townhouses lit up so cozily. My god, I used to think there was no way anyone could ever live in those unless they’d inherited them, but turns out there’s an even bleaker option.
Also: the language! I really liked how Dutch it sounded. I would guess it had been translated, but I mean that as a compliment. More books should be written with the ghost of the syntax of the language they’re supposed to be happening in.
Giant spoiler, but I do not buy the ending. I loved the twist and did not see it coming (unlike basically everyone else, but whatever). But!!! If the story was going to continue past the revelation, I wish it had explored the messed-up power dynamic more. First of all, it’s a little too neat that Isabel’s brothers were both like “sure, no problem, put our inheritance in Isabel’s name, makes sense”. Second of all, even if we accept this generosity on the part of two men in the 1960s … is Isabel planning to add Eva to those title deeds??? Because a love declaration simply is not guarantee enough; Eva, of all people, must know that. And Isabel was very nasty in the beginning! Are we truly to believe that being sexually awakened … fixed her? I would read a sequel that got into the weeds of this.
Finally, I wish this book came with a note -- or maybe just that there was some conversation around it? -- about house appropriations having happened and still happening almost every single fucking day in Palestine. Not to diminish how terrible it is that they happened in the Netherlands, but to emphasize how terrible they are and how they continue as part of the same story. The parallels seem simply too huge and heartbreaking to ignore.