While de Jong’s romantic storyline is dated by today’s standards, this post-war novel still merits attention. Unsurprisingly, in keeping with the grand old tradition of early lesbian literature, their forbidden relationship is ultimately doomed in the face of external pressures from existing challenges (conservative attitudes and societal taboo against homosexuality) to extraordinary circumstances (Nazism and war). It doesn’t help that Bea is a repressed lesbian and Erica is half-Jewish.

They not only contend with societal conventions against lesbianism, but they must navigate their burgeoning romantic feeling toward each other under the looming shadow of World War II. The novel centers on the pre-war relationship between new roommates, Bea, an uptight, complacent secretary, and Erica, a reckless, free-spirited journalist. Now Transit Books has released a brand new translation by Kristen Gehrman. Still, in 1961, it managed to be translated and published in English.

Originally published in her native Netherlands in 1954, the book was denounced for its lesbian content. First published in 1954 in the Netherlands, Dola de Jong's The Tree and the Vine was a groundbreaking work in its time for its frank and sensitive depiction of the love between two women, now available in a new translation.Not as well known as other pre-Stonewall lesbian fiction such as The Well of Loneliness or The Price of Salt, Dola de Jong’s The Tree and the Vine nevertheless caused a stir when it was initially released.

Only Bea's discovery that Erica is half-Jewish and a member of the Dutch resistance-and thus in danger-brings her closer to accepting her own feelings. Bea, a reserved secretary, grows increasingly obsessed with Erica, yet denial and shame keep her from recognizing her attraction. Erica, a reckless young journalist, pursues passionate but abusive affairs with different women. 'A jewel hidden in plain sight.'-Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review 'De Jong depicts the darker, dangerous side of the world of same-sex desire, and the way it's a source of torment-physical and psychological-for those who exist within it.'-The Paris Review When Bea meets Erica at the home of a mutual friend, this chance encounter sets the stage for the story of two women torn between desire and taboo in the years leading up to the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam.

The Tree and the Vine by Dola de Jong