The Tree and the Vine

Rating:
Summary: Unrealized desires
Review: Bea is a secretary in Holland in the late 1930s, where she meets a journalist named Erica. Bonding together and sharing an apartment, the two have a stormy relationship because of Bea's unrealized desire for Erica and her empty affairs with men, and because of Erica's self-destructive nature. As the Nazi influence in Holland grows, Erica lives in danger due to her half-Jewish heritage, but only Bea seems to recognize the danger. Erica does confess her same-sex relationships to Bea, but Bea can't seem to figure out where her own desires lie, and when Erica gets involved with the Dutch resistance, Bea finds it may be too late, in more ways than one. De Jong's groundbreaking work is further analyzed by Lillian Faderman's astute afterword. The story brings to mind such novels as "Aimee And Jaguar", Ebba Haslund's "Nothing Happened", and Erzsebet Galgoczi's "Another Love", all set around the same time, and all showing the limited possibilities for lesbian life in Europe during the mid-1900s.