This year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction has been won by Dutch author Yael van de Wouden for her debut novel The Safekeep, according to multiple media reports.
The judges called the book an “astonishing debut… a masterful blend of history, suspense and historical authenticity.” Set in 1961 Netherlands, The Safekeep tell the story of a reclusive woman suddenly saddled with an unwanted guest when her brother asks if his girlfriend can stay with her for the summer. Initially repulsed by her new housemate, the two gradually form a close relationship.
“Books like this don’t come along every day,” author Kit de Waal, chair of judges for the fiction award, told the BBC. “Every word is perfectly placed, page after page revealing an aspect of war and the Holocaust that has been, until now, mostly unexplored in fiction. It is also a love story with beautifully rendered intimate scenes written with delicacy and compelling eroticism.”
De Waal called The Safekeep a “classic in the making” that would be “loved and appreciated for generations to come.”
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Known by many names over the years, the Women’s Prize for Fiction is among the most prestigious literary prizes in the United Kingdom. The annual prize recognises the best original full-length, English-language novel written by a woman and published in the UK in the previous year.
It has also spawned a number of sub-category competitions and awards, including the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction, first awarded last year. Naomi Klein took home the inaugural prize for her book Doppelgänger, a mix of memoir and political analysis that contrasts Klein’s worldview with that of the woman she’s often confused with, journalist-turned-conspiracy theorist Naomi Wolf.
This year, the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction went to Dr Rachel Clarke for The Story of a Heart, a moving depiction of two families on either side of an organ donation. When 9-year-old Kiera is left brain dead by a car accident, her family makes the decision to donate her organs, knowing it’s what she would have wanted. Another 9-year-old, a boy in Cheshire named Max, is desperately in need of a heart transplant after suffering a viral infection. Clarke follows the dedicated medical staff caring for Kiera in her final hours and their work to ensure her organ gives Max a new life.
Kavita Puri, chair of judges for the non-fiction prize, told the BBC that The Story of a Heart had “left a deep and lasting impression” on the panel. “Clarke’s writing is authoritative, beautiful and compassionate. The research is meticulous, and the storytelling is expertly crafted,” she explained. “She holds this precious story with great care and tells it with dignity, interweaving the history of transplant surgery seamlessly.”
