The Safekeep is one of those books I read because of its gorgeous cover, without knowing much else about it. I was gratified (some books can be judged by their covers, after all) to find that the prose was excellent and its main character, Isabel, intriguing.
I finished it with mixed feelings, mostly because of the middle portion. Isabel, on her own, is unlikeable, lonely, paranoid, but interesting to follow nevertheless. She doesn’t abide by silliness, and all she wants is her beloved house in order. She becomes less interesting once Eva enters her life.
Now, I understand that this is a love story, and I did enjoy it quite a bit, but the romance itself left something to be desired. I didn’t get a sense it developed naturally or in any way beyond just attraction — which, to be clear, is fine, but the narrative gets bogged down by endless physical intercourse between Eva and Isabel, without any real intimacy or emotional development. They talk little, but press each other against things a lot.
The Isabel I enjoyed reading in the beginning disappears in favor of a paler, less lovingly rendered version of herself. And Eva isn’t that interesting to begin with, so she doesn’t get more so in light of all of this. I would have appreciated more conversations to show why these two very different women, who both dislike each other immensly at the start, suddenly can’t seem to stay away from each other.
I find that the book does recover in part 3 and gets back to its roots of good character writing. But by this point you just want it to be done and over with. Still, I enjoyed the way Eva’s journal was written and how angry she seems in it — if only we’ve seen more of that on the surface. It’s unfortunate that Eva serves more as a submissive catalyst for Isabel’s journey rather than ever becoming her own character.
All in all, I adored the prose in this book. It’s well-written, incisive and atmospheric. If only for that, I enjoyed The Safekeep. And as mentioned, Isabel was well-worth following around; I would have read a book just about her ordinary life without the plot. I’m excited for whatever this author writes next!
