The Blue Dress

A series of three short stories introducing Rebecca, a Canadian teenager, living in Montreal in the 1940s.
In the title short story, Rebecca receives a second-hand blue dress as a gift. When she is forced to give up her hand-made needlepoint pillow in return, she finds a way to exact a fitting revenge for the adults’ betrayal. Rebecca’s War tells the story of WWII through the experiences of Rebecca and her Japanese schoolmate, a Sunday dinner with refugees, and a frightening encounter with a concentration camp survivor. In the final story, The Maid, Rebecca sees a condom for the first time. This new knowledge has an unusual effect on a practical joke, she and her friend, Jackie, play on the maid in Jackie’s home.