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“The Safekeep” by Yael Van Der Wouden, is a fictional novel, a story of desires; the desire to belong, to be loved, the desire for sex, for home and for justice.
It is the summer of 1961 in the Dutch province of Overijssel. Isabel is living in the countryside home that she and her two brothers grew up in during World War II. Her brothers, Louis and Hendrik, have both moved to the city, preferring that locale. Although Louis will inherit the house, he has no intention of living there, and allows Isabel to stay on.
Isabel is cold, unfriendly and obsessed with the house and its belongings. Isabel’s lifestyle is turned upside down when Louis brings his girlfriend Eva to come live at the house with Isabel while he goes abroad for work. Eva is the opposite of Isabel. Eva sleeps late, is loud, and is warm and friendly. Isabel does not want Eva there. You learn through flashbacks that Eva has a reason for being there, an agenda. As time passes, their strained relationship changes to one of lovers.
When Eva’s backstory is revealed, you learn that Eva lived in the house prior to Isabel’s family. Eva and her mother were forced out of the house during World War II because they were Jewish. Eva slowly takes things that belonged to her family; a spoon, a fork, a baking dish. When Isabel accidentally finds Eva’s cherished diary, she soon learns that Eva has been stealing some of the home’s treasured possessions. Furious, Isabel kicks Eva out. Desperately missing Eva, Isabel reads her diary. Learning that Eva lived in the house prior to her family, Isabel sets out to right a wrong.
This story of desire and obsession has some twists and unexpected turns.
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