![]() ![]() ![]() When the persecution of the Jews intensifies, Bea’s loyalty is put to the sternest of tests. Bea does not succeed in developing a serious relationship with anyone else. The physical side of their love is subtly described (‘When the door fell shut behind her I took a bath, scrubbed away the caresses of those authoritarian hands and her compelling mouth, washed off the scent of lavender and cigarettes that I could smell on my own skin.’)Įven after the relationship with Erica ends, she remains at the centre of Bea’s life. Bea and Erica behave like lovers who cannot live together, nor live apart. ![]() Bea starts a relationship with Bas, who thinks the affection between the two friends is based on ‘unhealthy emotions’. Bea is put in charge of the last 500 guilders. ![]() This sets the tone: Bea is the caring guardian of the home for the capricious Erica, who works through an inheritance in just a few months. When they first start living together, Erica does not have a bed. Their friendship is complicated, not only as a result of their very different characters but because it develops into an ‘unnatural’ love. After a month they move into an apartment together. In The Tree and the Vine, compliant secretary Bea tells of her meeting in 1938 with the reckless journalist Erica. ![]()
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