Dear Great Book Guru, With the beginning of the new school year, I feel the need to start a weekly reading regimen.  Do you have an engrossing, worthwhile, short book you would recommend? Starting in September

Dear Starting in September, I just finished a fascinating book and – yes - it’s only 238 pages: THE SAFEKEEP by Yael Van Der Wouden. Set in the Netherlands in 1961, the novel opens with Isabel – a quirky thirtyish year-old woman discovering a broken piece of pottery. Isabel lives in her dead mother’s country home and sees very few people.  Her brothers Hendrik and Louis live in the city and visit for a day or so twice a year. Her life is very circumscribed so when Louis insists his latest girlfriend Eva stay with Isabel for a month while he is on a business trip, Isabel is furious and totally unsettled.  Eva is the opposite of Isabel in every way. She sleeps late, dresses garishly, talks loudly and incessantly, but worst of all - she is not careful with the household treasures. The tension builds with Isabel counting the days until Eva will leave, but suddenly things begin to disappear, and the two women are confronted by mysterious happenings that draw them together. Soon we see that the house itself is a character.  Vestiges of World War II permeate the landscape and minds of both Eva and Isabel, leaving the reader to question if either woman can be trusted.   Highly recommended!