This debut novel by Yael van der Wouden is full of tension and had me intrigued from the first page. The book is set in Holland in the early 1960s and centers around a house currently occupied by a single woman called Isabel. We learn that Isabel has grown up in the house and that her two brothers, Hendrick and Louis, have moved away. She has an almost obsessive fixation on the inventory of the house and is convinced the maid is stealing things. The siblings often meet for lunch and in the latest instance Louis brings along his girlfriend Eva whom Isabel takes an instant dislike to. Tensions rise when Eva ends up staying at the house for the summer and their relationship takes an unexpected turn. Without giving anything away the final chapters are a harrowing account of Eva’s relationship to the house.
An intense and beautifully written novel – and one that was longlisted for the Booker prize 2024.