It’s been a remarkable eighteen months for Dutch-Israeli author Yael van der Wouden. Her debut novel, The Safekeep, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and this year it won the Women’s Prize for Fiction.

Set in the Netherlands 15 years after the end of World War II, The Safekeep is the story of a reclusive young woman living in her family’s isolated country home, whose life is turned upside down by the arrival of an unpredictable house guest.

In this episode, Yael sat down with host Mythili Rao to talk about her approach to writing historical fiction, the enduring legacy of the 20th century’s greatest tragedy and the ways in which her novel challenges the Dutch national narrative about World War II and its treatment of Jewish people during and after the war.

Yael van der Wouden Yael lives and works in the Netherlands, where she lectures in creative writing and comparative literature.

The Safekeep is available now in paperback.

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Goals and a Single Piece of Paper