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Yael van der Wouden

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Yael van der Wouden is a Dutch writer. Her first novel, The Safekeep, was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize.[1][2]

Early life and education

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Van der Wouden started ballet classes at the age of three, and competed in her school's talent show aged ten, with a dance interpreting a flame.[3] She studied comparative literature at Utrecht University and SUNY Binghamton.[4]

Writing career

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Van der Wouden's essay "On (Not) Reading Anne Frank" was published in The Best American Essays in 2018, and received a "notable mention".[5][6] It "explored the ways in which that totemic, sentimentalised figure threatened to leave little space for [Van der Wouden's] own explorations of her Dutch-Jewish identity".[7]

Her first novel, Safekeeping (2024) was the subject of bidding wars between nine publishers for the United Kingdom edition and ten for the United States.[8] It is the story of Isabel, who lives in her late parents' house 15 years after the end of World War II, and her brother's partner Eva who comes to stay for the summer: "What happens between the two women leads to a revelation which threatens to unravel all she has ever known."[9] The Observer's reviewer says that the author "weaves this story of historical reckoning (or its avoidance) with an account of Isabel's individual and sexual awakening,"[7] The Guardian's reviewer called it "An impressive debut" and said "The book's powerful final act provides an already weighty emotional situation with an extra layer of historical heft",[10] and The New York Times's reviewer described it as "An Erotic Story of Love and Obsession in 1960s Amsterdam".[11] When it was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize it was the first shortlisted title by a Dutch author and the only debut novel on the 2024 shortlist.[2]

Van der Wouden has taught creative writing, storytelling, and literature.[4]

Selected publications

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  • Wouden, Yael van der (2024). The Safekeep. Viking. ISBN 978-0241652305.

References

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  1. ^ "The Safekeep". The Booker Prizes. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  2. ^ a b Creamer, Ella (16 September 2024). "Percival Everett and Rachel Kushner make the 2024 Booker prize shortlist". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  3. ^ Lee, Benjamin (12 December 2018). "Writer of the Week: Yael van der Wouden". Maudlin House. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  4. ^ a b "About". Y. Yael van der Wouden. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  5. ^ "Yael van der Wouden". The Booker Prizes. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  6. ^ Egherman, Tori (16 September 2022). "Reading On (Not) Reading Anne Frank". Het Joods Manifest :: The Jewish Manifesto. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  7. ^ a b Moshenska, Joe (16 June 2024). "The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden review – secrets and sex in postwar Europe". The Observer. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  8. ^ North, Nic (19 January 2023). "Debut author's post-Holocaust novel sparks nine-way bidding war". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  9. ^ "The Safekeep". Penguin. 30 May 2024. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  10. ^ Seiffert, Rachel (25 May 2024). "The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden review – the Dutch house". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  11. ^ "Book Review: 'The Safekeep,' by Yael van der Wouden". 25 May 2024. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
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