A sweeping romance set in 1960s Netherlands—the author's first novel—and a moving tale of organ donation have claimed this year's Women's Prize for Fiction and Non-Fiction, verdicts that honor powerful stories of love, loss, and human connection. Dutch author Yael van der Wouden won for her debut, The Safekeep, which centers on a reclusive woman whose summer is upended when her brother's girlfriend moves in. What starts as mutual discomfort evolves into a closer relationship, the BBC reports. The judges praised the novel as a "masterful blend of history, suspense and historical authenticity." One called it "a classic in the making," highlighting its exploration of lesser-known aspects of war and the Holocaust alongside the nuanced love story.
The Women's Prize for Non-Fiction went to Dr. Rachel Clarke for The Story of a Heart, which follows two families connected by a heart transplant. The book tells the story of Kiera, a 9-year-old girl who dies in a car accident, and Max, a boy of the same age with heart failure. Clarke, a British physician, details the medical team's efforts and the impact of organ donation, earning praise from the judges for its "authoritative, beautiful and compassionate" writing. The book was adapted into an ITV series earlier this year. The winners, announced at a ceremony in London, will receive about $40,000 each.
- In a review of The Safekeep, Lori Soderlind gives an example in the New York Times of Van der Wouden's facility with metaphors: "The canals had frozen over. Isabel tested one with her foot and found it solid, and then stood on it in wonder; a miracle, she thought, to stand so solidly on what could also engulf you."
- In a review of The Story of a Heart, Fiona Sturges writes in the Guardian: "In one of the most remarkable passages, we find ourselves privy to the meeting of the two families—a rarity in transplant cases—three months after Max's surgery. Joe, Keira's father, is handed a stethoscope. Putting the buds in his ears, he lays the drum on Max's chest and listens to his daughter's heart: busy, pulsing, alive."
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