Yael van der Wouden has claimed this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction with her debut novel The Safekeep, a groundbreaking work that explores an unlikely lesbian romance set in 1960s Netherlands against the backdrop of post-Holocaust trauma, per bbc.com.
The prestigious £30,000 award was announced Thursday evening at a ceremony in London, with judges praising van der Wouden’s “astonishing debut” as a “masterful blend of history, suspense and historical authenticity.”
The Safekeep tells the story of a reclusive woman whose world is upended when her brother’s girlfriend moves in for the summer. What begins as mutual repulsion gradually transforms into an intimate relationship between the two women, with the narrative exploring themes of war, memory, and forbidden love.
Judge Kit de Waal declared the novel “a classic in the making” that will be “loved and appreciated for generations to come.” She emphasised the book’s unique exploration of Holocaust aftermath through the lens of queer romance, calling it a perspective “mostly unexplored in fiction” until now.
The companion Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction went to Dr. Rachel Clarke for The Story of a Heart, a compelling examination of organ donation through the parallel stories of two families. The book follows nine-year-old Kiera, who dies in a car accident, and nine-year-old Max, who receives her heart after facing heart failure from a viral infection.
Dr. Clarke’s work, her fourth book, was adapted into an ITV series in 2024 and was praised by judges for its “meticulous research” and “expertly crafted storytelling.”
Both winners received £30,000 prizes, with the awards recognising outstanding contributions to literature by women authors. The Women’s Prize for Fiction, established in 1996, continues to champion diverse voices and stories that might otherwise go unrecognized in mainstream literary circles.
•Featured image:Yael van der Wouden, whose novel The Safekeep was also shortlisted for the Booker Prize last year/Getty Images
