Israeli-born author of ‘The Safekeep’ wins Women’s Prize for Fiction

Yael van der Wouden, the Israeli-born author of breakout novel The Safekeep, has won the 30th Women’s Prize for Fiction.

The Safekeep, described by the Women’s Prize Trust as an “unsettling, tightly-plotted debut novel which explores repressed desire and historical amnesia set against the backdrop of the Netherlands post-WWII", was praised by the judges for its “bold, insightful exploration of the emotional aftermath of trauma and complicity”.

Jewish writer Van der Wouden, who was born in Tel Aviv and brought up in the Netherlands, was awarded the Women’s Prize for Fiction at a ceremony in central London on Thursday, honoured alongside this year’s winner of the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction, Dr Rachel Clarke.

“The Safekeep is that rare thing: a masterful blend of history, suspense and historical authenticity,” said Kit de Waal, Chair of Judges for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction. “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. This astonishing debut is a classic in the making, a story to be loved and appreciated for generations to come. Books like this don’t come along every day,” de Waal said.

Yael van der Wouden (far left), poses with the Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist, Her Majesty Camilla (centre) and Chair of Judges Kit de Waal (far right). (Photo: Women's Prize Trust)[Missing Credit]

Set in the countryside of the Netherlands 15 years after the Second World War, The Safekeep follows the stringent, solitary protagonist Isabel, whose life is dominated by routines and the maintenance of her late mother’s rural home. But, as the synopsis reads, “all is upended when her brother Louis delivers his graceless new girlfriend, Eva, at Isabel’s doorstep.”

The book, which sparked a frenzied publishing bidding war after its inception, was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize and the 2025 Dylan Thomas prize.

Van der Wouden lectures in creative writing and comparative literature in the Netherlands, where she resides, and has written essays on Dutch identity and Jewishness. Born in Israel in 1987 to a Jewish mother of Romanian and Bulgarian heritage and a Dutch father, van der Wouden moved with her family to the Netherlands at the age of 10.

Israeli-Dutch writer Yael van der Wouden at the Booker Prize 2024 announcement ceremony in London. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty Images

She told The Observer last week: “I grew up going to a hippie school near Tel Aviv not ever having to question being Jewish. And then I came to the Netherlands, and not only was I made to question it, I had to explain it, because people were like, oh, you’re Jewish, what are you doing here? Sometimes it was just sheer curiosity and could be quite funny. But sometimes it was a boy carving a swastika into your locker and then it was less fun.”

The Women’s Prize Trust said of The Safekeep: “Van der Wouden’s universally resonant tale cements her as one of contemporary fiction’s most exciting new voices.”

The Israeli author, who beat out fellow Jewish shortlisted author Miranda July for her 2024 novel All Fours, will receive £30,000, anonymously endowed, and a limited-edition bronze statuette known as the ‘Bessie’ for her win.