Top Naeff (1878-1953) was a Dutch writer. Life Top Naeff, the only child of strict parents, did not excel at secondary school. She married a family doctor, but later fell passionately in love with the director and actor Willem Royaards. Royaards, also married, did not reciprocate in the way she wanted. Naeff's first novel, School Idylls (1900), told the story of a teenage orphan, Jet van Marle, brought up by a loveless aunt and uncle. The novel was inspired by Louisa M. Alcott and Tine van Berken. In her first adult novel, At the Gate (1912), the protagonist Liesbeth van Landschot is frustrated by her violent passion for a man who is unaware of her feelings. Naeff reviewed plays widely for De Groene Amsterdammer. She succeeded her friend Herman Robbers as editor of Elsevier's Geïllustreerd Maandschrift (Elsevier's Illustrated Monthly). Works Schoolidyllen [School Idylls], 1900 Oogst, 1900 De tweelingen, 1901 't Veulen, 1903 De dochter, 1904 In den dop, 1906 De stille getuige, 1906 Voor de poort [At the Gate], 1912 Vriendin, 1920 Charlotte von Stein: een episode, 1921 Voorbijgangers: vier verhalen, 1925 Voorbijgangers, 1925 Letje, of De weg naar het geluk, 1926 Klein avontuur, 1928 Offers ... [Sacrifices...], 1932 Een huis in de rij [The Terraced House], 1935 Juffrouw Stolk, en andere verhalen, 1936 Willem Royaards: de tooneelkunstenaar in zijn tijd, 1947 Zo was het ongeveer, 1951 References 1878 births 1953 deaths Dutch novelists Dutch journalists Dutch children's writers Dutch women children's writers