The Eetclub had even more secrets in The Perfect Lie book, so here’s what they were hiding

The Eetclub looked like a group of wealthy friends who had everything sorted. Well, they really, really didn’t.

By the end of The Perfect Lie, Evert’s death is only one part of what has gone wrong inside the group. The seven-part Netflix thriller gradually reveals affairs, illegal business dealings and enough lies to completely wreck the friendships.

But the original book, Saskia Noort’s De Eetclub, gives you even more context about what was happening behind the scenes.

So, what was the Eetclub actually hiding?

The biggest secret wasn’t just what happened at Evert and Babette’s house. Simon and Evert were also involved in a business that had criminal elements, and Simon eventually admits to Karen that he hadn’t been completely honest about his business dealings.

In the book, this is more than just a side detail. Evert knew about Simon’s problems and Hanneke was threatening to go to the police with what she knew. That gives both men a much bigger reason to be worried once Karen starts asking questions.

The book also makes Evert and Babette’s marriage much darker than the series initially suggests. Evert isn’t simply unhappy and planning to leave. In the novel, Babette constantly belittles him, controls him financially and physically abuses him. Evert doesn’t fight back because he is afraid that doing so could mean losing access to his children.

That changes how you see Evert completely. Before the fire, the group is told that Evert has been struggling mentally and eventually spends time in a psychiatric institution. The other members of the Eetclub mostly accept the idea that he has simply fallen apart.

But Hanneke knows there is more going on. She has been having an affair with Evert, and as per the book, the relationship is partly what keeps him going while things at home get worse. When Babette finds out about them, the situation becomes even more complicated.

Then there are the other relationships. Karen has an affair with Simon, while Hanneke has been involved with Evert. Simon has also had a sexual relationship with Babette, something Karen only properly understands later.

So basically, the Eetclub isn’t just hiding one affair. Everyone is tangled up with everyone else.

What does the book reveal about Babette?

Babette spends much of the story looking like one of the victims. Her house has burned down, her husband is dead, and she moves into Karen’s home afterwards. But Karen eventually starts seeing another side of her.

The book describes how Babette had mistreated Evert and how she wanted to keep control over him. She also becomes obsessed with Simon after their sexual relationship ends. And once Babette discovers that Simon is involved with Karen, things get even worse.

The book’s ending makes it clear that Babette started the fire that killed Evert, and that she also pushed Hanneke from the balcony after Hanneke worked out what she had done.

What about Simon and the money?

In the book, Karen meets Simon at a motel towards the end, where he finally admits that his business dealings with Evert weren’t as clean as he had made them sound. He also tells her about his relationship with Babette.

Hanneke had threatened to expose the business problems to the police, which gives her another reason to become a target.

That means there are actually several things happening at once: Evert knows about Simon’s business, Hanneke knows about Evert and the business, Babette knows about Simon and Hanneke, and Karen is slowly finding out about all of them.

It’s basically one huge chain of people trying to stop the next person from talking.

And the book is also much more cynical about the group. Karen initially sees the Eetclub as a way to make friends after moving out of Amsterdam. They have nice houses, successful husbands, money, parties and holidays together.

But she gradually realises that a lot of the friendship is built around appearances. The women drink, gossip and show off their lifestyles, while their marriages are falling apart behind closed doors. In the book, the group is described as people whose comfortable lives depend heavily on their husbands’ success, while they spend their time drinking, playing tennis and talking about each other.

That is why the name of the group becomes pretty ironic. They all sit around the same dinner table, know each other’s families, and think they’re close. But they don’t actually know what is happening in each other’s lives.

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