(Fiction, 288 p. 2024)
It’s been fifteen years since World War II, and the rural Dutch province of Overijssel is quiet. Living alone in her late mother’s country home, Isabel’s life is led by routine and discipline. But all is upended when her brother Louis delivers his graceless new girlfriend, Eva, at Isabel’s doorstep—as a guest, there to stay for the season. Eva is Isabel’s antithesis: she sleeps late, wakes late, walks loudly through the house, and touches things she shouldn’t. In response, Isabel develops a fury-fueled obsession, and when things start disappearing around the house, her suspicions spiral out of control. Her desperate desire for order transforms into infatuation—leading to a discovery that unravels all she has ever known. The war might not be well and truly over after all, and neither Eva—nor the house—are what they seem.
Reading Guide (includes discussion questions) from the Booker Prizes, 2024
Review by Lori Sonderlind, The New York Times, November 26, 2024
Review by MJ Franklin, Book Club Book Review, The New York Times, April 25, 2025
Review by Joe Moshenska, The Guardian, June 16, 2024
Review by Nicole Young, Elle, May 29, 2024
Review by Julie R. Enszer, Jewish Book Council, May 24, 2024
Review by The Booker Prizes, 2024
Review by Kirkus, April 5, 2024
Review by Chloe Schama, Vogue, December 25, 2024
Review by Eric Karl Anderson, Lonesome Reader, August 25, 2024
Review links in Book Marks, n.d.
Review by Róisín., The Resting Willow, n.d.
Review by Kristina P., Bookish Delights, September 6, 2024
