More thoughts about books

The Safekeep - Yael van der Wouden

General disclaimer, I know the author personally. Yael is my writing mentor! Oh and uh spoilers, obviously.

In no specific order:

• The pear: The pear scene is obviously an erotic metaphor. The hunger, the juice dripping down her skin, the lingering smell. What I find particularly interesting is that Isabel takes the pear into her private room and eats the entire thing. She's going somewhere out of sight and leaving no trace. I don't get the sense from the rest of the book that she is ashamed of her sexual desire necessarily. For the first part of the book she is aware of sexuality in general as something men do to women, and that makes her feel extremely uncomfortable. There is an aspect of the repressive society denying women all agency, and the general theme of no one talking aboit things, ever. My general take on the pear scene, and specifically the secrecy of it, is that she is trying to come to terms with a desire she doesn't understand, doesn't know what to do with and most of all, doesn't think anyone else can or should witness.
• The title: so the safekeep is Isabel. She's keeping the house for her brother. She's also unknowingly keeping it for the de Haas family. The safekeep is also all goyim Dutch people, who were supposed to look after the place of the jewish people when they were forced to flee, but now refuse to give back what was never theirs. Isabel's aunt is an interesting (lower stakes than a house or a whole country) example. She was given an oven dish to keep and now has either convinced herself it waa a gift or just doesn't want to give it back, despite not actually using it. There is an aspect of Dutch grabbiness, once something is mine I'll never let it go. Isabel likewise doesn't want yo let the house go. At this point she's grown up in it and lived there for 20 years. It's not strange that she doesn't want to leave. It's also clear her brother doesn't really care about it, so she simply doesn't think about whose house it really is. Until Eva comes around, and it turns out she both has a legitimate claim and actually wants the damn thing. Unlike her aunt, Isabel manages to give what little is in her power back to Eva. A small repayment.
• Racism and classism: yeah so uh, that's a huge subject. Racism and classism feature in this book as two intertwined toxic vines. Isabel's initial impression of Eva is very classist (peroxide blonde hair, badly made clothes) and informed by racism (dark hair, big nose). Isabel's mother was explicitly and casually antisemitic in a way Isabel only acknowledges after she personally gets to know a jewish person. Sebastian is "foreign". Again, Isabel doesn't realise how much her Racism towards Sebastian hurts until she gets to know him better and witnesses him being denied service. Suddenly she sees the hurt and she starts questioning things. Wouldve been nice of she could've seen that before it affected her personally but at least she does see it.
• Things unsaid: okay so NO ONE actually NAMES things what they are! Except Eva. Towards the end, Isabel grudgingly starts doing it too but fuck me, people don't communicate. Hendrik isn't gay, he just "will never marry". Houses weren't stolen from jewish people, they just "didn't pay their mortgage". Louis isn't a serial cheater, he just "frequently has a new girl". Of course, all of this serves to paper over the underlying crimes, tragedies, and uncomfortable truths. Until Eva comes crashing through the whole charade.
• Gardening and care: despite the fact that Isabel is only keeping the house for everyone else, she cares about it. This shows in her gardening and the care with which she washes the plates. Isabel's aunt has shoved the "borrowed" dish in the back of a kitchen cabinet. But not Isabel. She may not be able to name things or communicate very well, but she can care. She can do things right, inasmuchmuch she knows what right is. And Eva notices. The tree that Eva's mother loved is still there. The garden is being used and kept. The plates are handled with love. Maybe this is why Isabel is able to make the jump to giving the house back to (or at least sharing it with) Eva.