In this episode of Tom’s Book Club, Yael van der Wouden discusses her debut novel The Safekeep, winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2025.

Set in the Netherlands in the years after the Second World War, The Safekeep follows Isabel, whose ordered, solitary life is disrupted by the arrival of her brother’s enigmatic girlfriend. As the summer unfolds, desire, tension, and long-buried secrets rise to the surface, leading to a powerful and unsettling revelation.

In this extended conversation, Yael van der Wouden talks about unlikeable narrators, being surprised by her characters and how it felt to win the Women's Prize.

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