Unlikely 60s romance wins the hearts of Women's Prize judges

This year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction has been awarded to Dutch author Yael van der Wouden for The Safekeep, a novel about an unlikely romance in the Netherlands in the 1960s.

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The judges called the book an “astonishing debut... a masterful blend of history, suspense and historical authenticity”.

The story follows a reclusive woman whose brother asks if his girlfriend can move in with her for the summer. Initially repulsed by her new housemate, a closer relationship gradually develops between the two women.

The Women's Prize for Non-Fiction went to Dr Rachel Clarke for The Story of a Heart, an exploration of two families on either side of an organ donation.