The Dutch writer Yael van der Wouden has won the prestigious British Women’s Prize for Fiction. She won the prize with her debut The Safekeep. The jury called the book “a classic in the making, a story that will be loved and cherished for generations.”
The Women’s Prize for Fiction is awarded annually to a book written in English and published in the United Kingdom. The prize, formerly known as the Orange Prize, was awarded for the thirtieth time this year.
The Safekeep is set in post-war Overijssel. Isabel lives alone in her deceased mother’s house, where everything is quiet. Until her brother Louis suddenly appears at her door with his new girlfriend Eva to spend the summer with her.
Van der Wouden’s book was shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize last year. She was the first Dutch author to make the shortlist.