Chapter 2, Palimpsest 1903-1914 Summary and Analysis

Henry is 52 years old when his second wife dies, and he is determined to give his children a happy life. The now motherless Rothschilds move into a typical New York City brownstone and start collecting dogs since they are the most "aggressively spoiled dogs in New York" (pg. 18.) Dorothy is an avid animal lover throughout the rest of her life.

Dorothy's brothers, Harry and Bert, are now approaching adulthood and work in wholesale garment houses. Bert is engaged to his soon-to-be wife. Helen, Dorothy's sister, is also growing up. She is a socialite and a beauty. Dorothy adores and admires her sister. Dorothy begins to realize that while Helen is the beauty of the family, she is plain and even sickly, and destined to remain so. She is, however, the artistic one in the family, and she...