Then Came November

    I've read this book once before and for some reason I just knew I was going to love it, and I did! But for some strange reason I've come to believe I disliked it over the past few years that it's sat on my bookshelf. I remember quite a bit about it and the twist at the end. I'm excited to re-read it knowing about the twist and being able to notice everything leading up to it.

    High school junior Dulcy Rolff doesn't feel like she belongs. Although she wants to fit in with her peers she feels awkward and wordless and as though her friendship is unwanted. For this reason she pulls out a book and reads during any moment people usually use for socializing such as when she arrives to class early or on the school bus, which is where we first find her. 

    She gets on the bus to go home after the school day and as she's surrounded by the chatter of her schoolmates she pulls out her French vocabulary book. Suddenly the boy sitting across the isle from her asks if she is going to the football game that night.

    He is a popular boy named Paul Newson, or Polly as everyone calls him, and Dulcy is sure he must be speaking to her simply to laugh at her expense. His attention makes her blush in embarrassment but her face turns even redder when she drops her book, collides heads with Polly when they both go to grab it, and when she opens it upside down and Polly turns it right side up for her. Feeling humiliated she runs off the bus at the first stop.

    She's almost immediately approached by Elaine Totting, an extremely popular petite blonde who Dulcy only knows in passing. She asks Dulcy what Polly had said to make her blush so much and when Dulcy replies that he asked about the game Elaine assumes Polly was asking her for a date and claims she's suspected Polly has a crush on Dulcy. 

    

    Dulcy immediately corrects her, worried Elaine could have gotten some mistaken idea that popular Polly would ever be interested in someone like her. Elaine invites her over to talk about it but Dulcy declines.

    When she gets home she is greeted by her visiting 90 year old great-grandfather who is sitting barefoot on the front porch. Dulcy is embarrassed by this and rushes inside where she is greeted by King, her large elderly dog who Dulcy absolutely adores. Dulcy voices her embarrassment about her grandfather to her mother who doesn't understand her thought process on the matter. The girl and the dog then go to pick berries in the backyard and frolic together. When Dulcy returns her mother informs her she has a caller on the telephone, it's Elaine.

    Elaine invites Dulcy over for the evening but she declines with the excuse that she doesn't want to walk the distance. Elaine says she can come over instead but, panicked by the thought of the fashionable rich girl seeing her old fashion home and great-grandfather, she quickly says she'll get a ride to Elaine's then hangs up. 

    Once at the girls home, which is located in a brand new, expensive apartment building, Elaine sits Dulcy down in her room and then ignores her while she finishes a manicure. She pays attention to her guest long enough to tell her she needs to change her appearance then cuts Dulcys bangs, coats her face in makeup, and advises her on how she should dress, then ignores her for the next half hour.

    By that time the football game is about to end so the girls head over to the field to find out the outcome. Elaine leads them through the crowd and as their school gets the winning points everyone starts hugging in celebration. It's not until he speaks that Dulcy realizes she's hugging Polly. 

    Elaine gets a group together and they all decide to go out to eat. Dulcy doesn't go because it's almost her curfew. With Elaine jumping in someone else's car Dulcy doesn't have a ride home so she plans on walking to the bowling alley where her dad is. Polly stops her and insists it's too long a walk and that he can give her a ride in his car, which is nicknamed the purple pussycat. Before going to the bowling alley he drives around showing Dulcy his cars ability with high speed, quick breaks, and sharp turns, all of which make Dulcy nervous.

    The next morning she wakes up and rushes to her father's building company where she works as a secretary on Saturdays. Her older cousin, known as Young Bill, works there too. Her father had created a job especially for the young engineer graduate but is frustrated with the man for always trying to bring new methods and ways of thinking into his work. 

    Young Bill is married to Fan who Mr. Rolff doesn't like because of Fan's different ways; she likes to style herself simply without any jewelry or hair permanents, she doesn't decorate her house with knick-knacks or photos, and she has tea times and serves dinner at a "scandalously" late hour for a working class family.

    While working Dulcy receives a call from Elaine who is mad at her. Elaine complains about Dulcy and Polly leaving together and that Dulcy hadn't called her this morning to tell her how last night went. Dulcy is confused by this since Elaine and her had barely ever talked before yesterday and now she's acting as tho they're best friends. Although she finds it strange she decided to go along with it because she wants a close female friend, something which she has not had in years. 

    Elaine asks to meet up in town and go shopping. Dulcy knows she should stay and work but when her father and Young Bill go to check on a construction project she decides to take her lunch break early.

    Once Elaine sees Dulcy has a checkbook she goes ham picking out clothes, accessories, and makeup for Dulcy. Although Dulcy knows she needs to save her money for a new winter coat she is too meek to say no to her new friend. Elaine then insists Dulcy needs to be seen in her new clothes asap so arranges plans for that night.

    Dulcy arrives back at the office two hours later to find a handsome young man waiting inside. He's Roger Endicott and he's come to pick up some blueprints for his father. Dulcy finds him shy but friendly and feels very relaxed talking to him.
After dinner Dulcy is picked up by Elaine and Freddy, a short boy who feels like a big man in his fancy car. Freddy wants to go to a drive-in joint but Elaine insists they have to go to Pete's, a malt shop. Once there Elaine orders a bunch of food and has Freddy pay for it before running off to socialize with a bunch of other people there and letting the food be wasted. This, Freddy says, is why he wanted to go to the drive-in and not Pete's.

    Polly shows up and good-naturedly teases Dulcy about being there before pushing Freddy to the side so he can sit next to her. This is when Elaine suddenly makes her return and starts embarrassing Dulcy by implying Dulcy is only there in the hopes of seeing Polly.

    Finding the place crowded Polly and his friend decide to leave and bring the girls with them. Dulcy ends up in the purple pussycat wedged in between Polly and his friend Duke while Elaine, much to her displeasure, has to ride with Freddy. Once on the road Polly and Freddy start to race, making dangerous twists and turns around each other. Dulcy is terrified and fearful for her life but is afraid to tell Polly to stop because she doesn't want him to think she's a drip and thus lose her new friendship with him. 

    He finally does stop when the police start chasing them and he quickly pulls into a side road leaving Freddy to get busted. Dulcy covers her nervousness and the fact that she's about to cry by laughing and saying they should do that again. Polly is impressed with her nerve and that she didn't get scared like other girls would. They go to the drive-in restaurant and when taking Dulcy home Polly makes a move to kiss her but is interrupted when Mr. Rolff steps out on the porch.

    The next morning is Sunday and Dulcy and King follow their usual routine of hiking out into the wilderness where King naps and Dulcy sketches wildlife. After being there for about an hour Roger Endicott shows up. Him and Dulcy had talked about their shared love of the hiking area and discussed possibly seeing each other out there sometime so it's not a surprise but Dulcy is very happy. They walk and talk and enjoy each others company but when they get close to the Rolff home Dulcy ditches him, embarrassed at the thought of him seeing her old fashion home, especially since her eccentric aunt Lavinia just arrived for a stay and has her strange old car parked outside.

    The next day at school Dulcy finds herself being snubbed by Elaine and has no idea why. Finally Dulcy sits next to her in class and Elaine refuses to talk until she sees Polly sitting on Dulcys other side. She begins being flirty with Polly over how mean he was to leave her with Freddy the other night. After class starts Dulcy continues to try and sort things out with Elaine but the teacher hears her talking and moves her to the front of the class. 

    Polly takes her seat next to the blonde and Dulcy feels terribly left out. Her mind preoccupied she gives a completely wrong answer to the teachers question, then accidentally trips the teacher from her long legs sticking out under her desk. Her teacher then kicks her out of the class with a written note which Dulcy drops and while picking it up knocks her books off her desk. All this has the class laughing and Dulcy is horrifically embarrassed, not only that this happened but that it happened in front of Polly and Elaine. 

    Too embarrassed to face her peers in the next class Dulcy stands by the front doors debating on leaving early when Elaine comes up to her saying her "act" in class was great and that Polly thought she was hilarious. Dulcy, happy to have her friend talking to her again, says she's gonna skip class and go buy a new winter coat and Elaine decides to join her. 

    Once again Elaine picks out her items for her and decides on an impractical red tweed coat which doesn't go with the new clothes Dulcy has already bought. The coat also cost $100 which is far out of Dulcy's price range. Not having the money does not stop Elaine though, she simply has a credit account opened at the store for Dulcy and tells her to hide the bill when it comes.

    Back at home Dulcy finds herself in trouble. Her teacher has called and said Dulcy had been acting up. Then when Aunt Lavinia disapproves of Dulcys new coat the girl loses control of her emotions and runs off upstairs where she cries herself to sleep. Upon waking hours later she finds a tray of food outside and, although she doesn't know who left it there, it makes her feel as though someone in the house is sympathetic towards her.

    At school the next day Elaine does Dulcy's makeup to look as though she's been crying then they go to the teacher, then principle with a story of how getting kicked out of class had caused Dulcy to breakdown in tears and become too ashamed to finish out the school day so Elaine had walked her home. 

    This story is accepted and the girls get off scot free for skipping classes the previous day.
Elaine mentions that the Old Home Week dance is coming up and since Polly will clearly ask her to it Dulcy will need to buy a formal dress. But not just a formal dress, she will also need to buy lots more clothes, Elaine insists. Dulcy reminds Elaine that she doesn't have anymore money after the shopping they've already done but Elaine tells Dulcy to keep opening up credit accounts at various stores.

    As the week goes on Dulcy begins to find herself feeling more confident and as though she's beginning to fit in and feel accepted. As the next football game arrives Polly invites Dulcy to go with him. Before she has recovered from the shock of him asking, Elaine announces that the two girls would love to go with him thus inviting herself along. 

    Elaine takes Dulcy's bus home after school where they plan to get picked up for the game and then have a sleep over. Elaine charms the family with the exception of great-grandpa who pretends to be hard of hearing and loudly makes insults about the girl.

    When Polly and his friends arrive they start giving Aunt Lavinia's antique car a look over and Polly's about to take it for a drive when Dulcy makes it clear her aunt will flip if he does. Elaine then hops into the purple pussycat front seat with Polly and cuddles up with him. Dulcy is shocked and confused by this. Her mind becomes lost in thought which causes her to absentmindedly laugh at something that wasn't a joke and the others begin to look at her strangely. 

    After the game they spend two hours with their peers at food establishments until a policeman tells them they need to be getting home. The cop follows Polly until after he's dropped off two boys. Once the police car is out of sight Dulcy tries impressing Polly by saying she thought he would have tried to out race the cop. Him and Elaine both admonish Dulcy for this which embarrasses her. 

    Once they pull up to the Rolff house Polly asks when Dulcy can fix it so that the boys can sneak Aunt Lavinia's car out for a joy ride. Dulcy tries to give excuses for why she can't but when Elaine says Dulcy doesn't have the nerve she agrees to do it next Saturday. 

    As the girls are falling asleep in Dulcy's bed Elaine gives Dulcy more advise on how to hook Polly. She tells her to act bold and sophisticated, to copy movie actresses, and say outrageous things.

    The next morning Dulcy is up early to go to the office with her father. Elaine is equally annoyed at her options of waking up early to get a ride home or sleeping in and being in the house without Dulcy. She chooses the former but takes her time getting ready which infuriates Mr. Rolff. 

    On the way to the office he sends Dulcy into the post office to get the mail where she is surprised to find a bill for her coat has already been sent out. She decides she must buy her formal dress for the dance then begin making small payments towards the debt. 

    At work Young Bill invited her to dinner with him and Fan that night. At their house Dulcy enjoys how different the environment is to her home. They sit down to tea for an hour where they mostly relax in comfortable silence. While helping Fan prepare dinner Dulcy opens up to her about her recent social life and Fan gently gives the girl advice to be herself.

    When Dulcy arrives home she finds Elaine had called. She calls her back while young Bill speaks with Mr. Rolff. Elaine is excited to tell Dulcy her plan for Saturday; she is going to give Dulcy sleeping pills to feed to King so that Dulcy can sneak out her window undetected to go on the joyride. Dulcy doesn't like the idea but says she'll think about it.

    Her call ends as Young Bill storms out of the house. He had suggested that Mr. Rolff should expand the business so that he himself would have more work to do and feel less like the man was giving him charity. With this suggestion rejected young Bill quits.

    Monday after school Dulcy goes to buy her formal dress for the dance. She decides not to bring Elaine with her because she wants to pick it out for herself but once there she feels unsure. She ends up settling on a mature, black, single strap dress which adds $79 more dollars to her store debt. She tries to sneak the dress into her room but is spotted by Aunt Lavinia who, along with Dulcys mother, are scandalized by Dulcys purchase. Mrs. Rolff declared Dulcy will not be allowed to wear the dress out of the house. Dulcy is upset and the three have words before Dulcy runs upstairs in tears. Her relationship with her family continues to be strained and she starts spending the majority of her time outside with King.

    Over the following week there is a noticeable change in Dulcy at school, her mood is unstable. Elaine tells Dulcy more of her plans for Saturday; Dulcy will have an early date then after returning home she will sneak out her window for the joyride. 

    After making a scene in class which makes Polly laugh she asks him for that early date on Saturday. He accepts and says he'll bring someone for Elaine too. At the principals office Dulcy is told to look in the mirror then write a 500 word essay on what she sees. Dulcy finds this an upsetting task and wants to go wash her makeup off but Elaine and Polly's praise for her actions in class keep her attached to her new ways.

    After school she goes to Young Bill and Fans house, mostly in the hope to anger her parents. There she notices the effects Bill's unemployment is having on the family. Back at home Dulcy announces her visit hoping it'll make her parents mad but when it doesn't she makes up a lie about Young Bill starting his own rival building company which gets the effect she wanted.

    On Saturday night Polly picks Dulcy up and stops on the side or the road to kiss her. They pick up Elaine and Duke and go to the drive-in movie where Elaine makes up excuses to first get Polly and Dulcy to move apart and then she crawls into the front seat between them. Dulcy starts catching on then and, possibly after all the emotion strain with her family and school problems, breaks and spends the night in a fit of hysterical laughter and acting loopy. They take her home and she sneaks Aunt Lavinia's car keys from her purse then goes to get a scrap of meat to put the sleeping pills in for King.

    Great-grandpa catches her in the kitchen and assumes she's looking for a snack. When she quickly retreats he assumes he scared her off. In her room she gives King the sleeping pills then scurries out her window while Polly and Duke silently push the ancient car down the street. Once they're all in the stolen care Polly takes off for the countryside at high speeds. When a cow appears in the road he makes a quick turn to the side which causes the car go on two wheels before crashing back down. All shaken they solemnly get the car back into the driveway.

    Dulcy is concerned when she sees a light on in her room and upon re-entering the window she sees grandpa in the room. Feeling bad about her leaving the kitchen without eating he was bringing her a snack to leave outside her door, as he had previously done, when he heard King's strange breathing. He tells Dulcy he thinks King is passing. Horrified, Ducly confesses what she's done and wakes her father. They rush King to the vet where he is given a stimulant and the family is told it's a waiting game from there.

    Luckily King pulls through and upon returning home with him Aunt Lavinia says a boy had stopped by to check if Dulcy was alright. Dulcy, sure it was Polly, is touched by this thoughtful action and calls him up to thank him. However once on the phone Polly rudely accuses Dulcy of trying to pin the car damage on him, says he wasn't with her last night, and that he has "witnesses" to back him up if she tries saying he was. Dulcy is confused by his actions.

    On Monday Polly and Elaine are both late for class, acting strangely, and seeming to avoid her. In the girls bathroom a girl tells Dulcy that Polly asked Elaine to the Old Home Week dance. This is when Dulcy fully accepts the fact that Elaine had been using her to get to Polly. 

    Elaine had liked Polly but he wouldn't notice her so she attached herself to Dulcy, who Polly did like. She then worked to turn Dulcy into the exact opposite of what she was while Elaine took on Dulcy's original characteristic thus stealing Polly for herself. She confronts Elaine in the women's lounge and Elaine emotionally admits to her treachery before running away.

    After school Dulcy returns her formal dress and then heads home where she finds everyone gone. Her mother then calls saying Young Bills house caught on fire causing Fan to go into early labor. She is at the hospital with her, Mr. Rolff is at work, and Aunt Lavinia and Grandfather have left. It's Dulcys responsibility to run the house for the next few days while her mother stays with Fan. Dulcy also has to prepare the house for all the guest who are going to come to see the new baby and to help rebuild the fire damaged home.

    Dulcy is so busy she doesn't have time to cry over her social life. Grandpa also comes back with an orphaned dachshund puppy and requests Dulcy take care of it. King immediately adopts the puppy. Soon Aunt Lavinia returns and with her she brings a formal dress that had been a part of her mother's wedding trousseau. It's of gorgeous yellow material and Dulcy feels more beautiful in it than she did the black dress. 

    While she is trying it on there is an arrival at the front door and Aunt Lavinia says it's the young man who had come calling before. Dulcy knows it couldn't possibly be Polly and finds it's Roger Endicott. They arrange a movie date for that night and it's clear he will be taking her to the Old Home Week dance. Dulcy realizes she happier being herself and better enjoys the company of a boy she doesn't have to change herself for.

- The ages of Mr. And Mrs. Rolff are not mentioned but I would assume they are older since Dulcy's sisters are fifteen years her senior. It's unfortunate that this wasn't mentioned more as a reason for their lack of understanding of the social customs of Dulcy's peers.

- It's kind of ridiculous that the teacher would call Dulcy's parents and say she's misbehaving when all that happened is she gave a wrong answer and accidentally dropped her books. The teacher tripped over Dulcy's feet but that's not Dulcy's fault, she's long legged and when sitting in the front row there's really no where for them to go. I speak from experience.

- While spending the night at Dulcy's it's revealed Elaine has a nighttime routine where she cleanses her face and uses all types if creams for her face, eyes, elbows and knees, etc. She says it's to prevent wrinkles. I actually was surprised the first time I read this because I didn't know wrinkles were something you prevented early, I thought you could only treat then when they inevitably came. So I looked it up and actually ended up adopting a nightly skincare regiment with lots of moisturizing. I bet Nan Gilbert never thought someone would be getting advice from her book 50 years later.

    Elaine also says she does exercises for 10 minutes twice a day. Dulcy finds this and the skincare ridiculous and Elaine is suppose to appear pitiful because she spends so much time on her appearance but by 2020 we all know Elaine is taking care of her physical health which is smart. 

- The Totting's treatment of their previous dog is horrifying. Elaine claims her mother would give it sleeping pills so it wouldn't bark during the day and she got rid of it when moving upon finding out the town did not have a Kennel Club for her to socialize in.

    I think out of all the Whitman Novels for Girls this one is the most relatable and realistic. Dulcy is not some rare beauty that happens to be shy, neither is she the sister of the most popular girl in school, or any of those clichés. She's just a normal awkward girl who some boy happens to like. To be honest maybe I am biased since Dulcy and my seventeen-year-old self had a large amount of uncanny similarities right down to the elderly golden-fur dog and dachshund puppy, I however was never dumb enough to steal a car.

    I feel like this book does leave me with some questions; does Elaine still want to be friends with Dulcy, what new opportunities will Dulcy being on the year book staff bring, when will she have paid off the debt for her coat, what becomes of Elaine and Polly's relationship, how does the Old Home Week dance go, was Aunt Lavinias car badly damaged, will Polly fall for Dulcy again when she goes back to being her true self, and so many more.