Book Review: Dorothy Day - The Eleventh Virgin

Dorothy Day was born in Brooklin, New York on November 8, 1897. Her Father and Mother were John and Grace Day. She moved with her family across the country to San Francisco and then Chicago, which later on she would go to the University of Illinois in Urbana. By the year 1916, she would move to New York again and would work as a journalist for the socialist newspapers. She was involved in Protest movements to help workers and the poor. Amid this time she went through a series of friendships, a marriage, suicide attempts, and even abortion. After the birth of her daughter Tamar, she went through a series of conversions to find her way in the Catholic Church. This became such a reality when in 1932 she met former Religious Brother Peter Maurin who was from the Christian Brothers community and together they created the Catholics Workers Newspaper Movement that propelled hospitality and farming communes that spread through the United States. She devoted her life to this movement and at the end of her life she dedicated praying and fasting for the success of the Second Vatican Council and other accomplishments that she experienced was receiving communion by St. Paul VI and addressing the Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia 1967 and died among the poor by November, 29 1980 at Maryhouse in New York.[1]

This introduction serves briefly to understand the reason why she wrote this book. Since it is told that this book was written way before her conversion and even tried to destroy all the copies published because she felt ashamed of her past. Yet there is something in knowing the past of a Saint because it teaches us about God grace that is always ending and even St. Augustine addresses this circumstance by mentioning that, "There is no Saint without a past, and a Sinner without a future." This speaks to us about the life of a common person that although though her human condition she is now in the watch to the path of her canonization. What speaks to us about her is that there is hope for anyone to become a Saint because everyone is called to Holiness.

This book is displayed in three sections that detailed her life from Part One which her Life as an Adolescence to Part Two which is Still in Adolecensce to Part Three that is titled not so Much. The reading begins with Dorothy telling us that she remembers of childhood when her Mother Grace at the house of her Father was preparing for a house party with the horse chestnut tree ready to start picking. She always remembers the gathering with children and their foolishness around the table with the crusts.[2] It simply described as a simple life. At the same time, she speaks of her first contact with Catholicism through a girl named Mary who they knew and told them that she had she to pray all the mysteries before going to bed.[3] At the same time, she says that, Moreover she depicts herself as June. As this character, she is given the ability to described in this novel her person with a fantasy character as the case when Mary gives June something to read about the Saints. Here she says, "She also gave June the story of a saint to read, with the result that thereafter June prayed to Pelagia, her birthday saint, every time a whipping threatened. It didn’t avert the punishment, but her faith remained unshaken."[4] Thus this was an early discovery of faith which was a close approach to ponder along with the learning of St. Pelagia this in the near future of her conversion life. This first part is interesting because it speaks about a Saint who had an influence on these young children who just by been introduced into her life thought about her.


The second Chapter starts telling us about June growing and having responsibilities as well as also struggling to find time to read along with all the chores at the house. She tells us that there was, "the question of her soul and where she was before she was born and what would become of her afterward. In reading “Martin Eden,” she came across references to Herbert Spencer, and she borrowed “First Principles” from the library and was unhappy that she could not understand it. In reading Edgar Allan Poe, she found references to metempsychosis which was easier to understand and believe, after consulting works of reference. The word led to research in ancient religion. She bumped into Kant and Spinoza afterwards and found them insurmountable. Coming across Darwin, she was slightly encouraged at finding him relatively understandable, and Darwin led her to Huxley and Huxley to Fabre."[5] Dorothy says that although she had studied a tremendous amount of readings there was never the answer for her adolescence life as for why she was found unhappy with her life.[6]

As a result of her immense reading, she was found interested in the Episcopal Church through Zoroastrianism at the age of fifteen.[7] After finding herself passionate about this new discovery of hers she began to dictate her life sentiments on her diary. Yet she feared for her brothers that would try to mess around with her diary and even had some instances that they attempted to get her diary until she found a safe place to hide it underneath the carpet of the stairs. As time would go by she grew her distance from her family and relatives.[8] At the same time, she speaks of the relationships she had with different boys at a young age. Another fact written here later in June's life is the romance she had for Mr. Armads that faded away after summer.[9] Basically, she is given a good amount of detail about her life within this character in the household. The following Chapters speak much of her in her discovery of friends and joined by Poems at same for her education life at University level.

By the next part, June is becoming an independent woman that demands to be taken an individual by her Mother Grace and she becomes involved in socialist groups.[10] In chapter two June meets the person of Teddy Wode who by the association in journalism got to meet Hugh an ardent feminist that made her had an interest on such a guy who ended falling in love and work along with him.[11] In Chapter three we connect with her again finding that this group is being placed in jail but June who had not experienced being in jail.[12] She details that, "They were fined thirteen dollars and fifty cents each and not to be outdone by the anarchist in the way of principle, they also declared themselves in favor of jail. In a spirit of retaliation, and merely to keep up the good work, they in turn threatened the Wilmington Golf Club which was made up of prosperous business men and even drove them from the links. For a while there was no more outdoor amusement on the Sabbath."[13] What it can be said about Dorothy in here hidden character is that this semi-autobiographical novel is what she has gone through in her path to conversion.

Next Part is Not So Much where this last part of the book begins with her Mother Grace worried about her life. However, Mother Grace is caught in a conversation about June joining the Hospital during the time of War that she describes that she, "thought that it would be tactless to show her enthusiasm for what June was about to do. If she showed the happiness she felt, she thought it would reveal to June her disapproval of what her daughter had done before."[14] Amid this conversation, "June came with a letter to show her mother, applying for admittance to the city hospital. Her mother hid her approval as carefully as she hid her disapproval and asked her if she was about to become patriotic."[15] Nevertheless June indignant says that her priority was not to join war intentions but to escape from his Utopian life and reality.[16] The next paragraphs are about June and her sister in training. It is described that, "June and Adele worked in an empty ward. A wide door opened into another ward from which every now and then came the hot, sharp cry of a patient. It was good to be working there. There was even a strange satisfaction in hearing a patient cry because when the cries were stilled you knew that something useful had been done."[17] She also recounts that, "after several days of bed-making, June gave her first morning toilet, she felt that it was an event and an accomplishment. Before you could give a morning toilet, you had to be given a tray with many bottles and sponges and toilet articles on it. Trays were fascinating with the little jars of salve and swabs and bandages and liquid green soap and mouth wash—many more things. You had to go over your tray every morning to see that the other nurses did not steal things from it."[18] At this promotion she was given her first patient who was to be a Canadian Lady of ninety-four years old. Having this patient, she "objected to being washed saying that she had been bathed the day before and that at her time of life she did not see why she had to be pestered with soap and water the way she was. Argument was useless so she began to kick and fight, clawing at June with bird-like hands."[19]

The next following Chapter is a conversation about falling in love with her sister Adele. In the middle of the conversation, June reveals that she has done it, yet Adel continues by describing how it can be possible. Along the way, June discovers that her sister in love with a guy named Dick Wemys who was at the hospital due to a situation he had with Mexican group of sailors who left him out and took all his money away to suffer pneumonia. Unfortunately this Dick Wemys would find an interest in June as an adventure as June had with all the guys he met during his time working in the summer.[20] As a result of impulse, June and Dick decided to venture away and this shocks the family. The last two chapters are about how June never ended up leaving with Dick due to her Mother's illness and that she needed to take care of her. The disappointment that followed at the news she told Dick was discouraging. Yet they met again and they went to a party were all here ex's where at the same place which at first was fine but later turned into discouragement.[21] After several circumstances, Dick's love over June prevailed and they loved each other as it was their last day. Finally, she says that, "June often rebelled against it and there were afternoons when she walked the streets, or took bus rides, watching the women shopping on Fifth Avenue, looking at the homes of all those people who accepted permanency as the undercurrent of their lives. Those women were buying things to take home to their husbands—to their babies, probably. Why couldn’t she too have a home, a husband, and babies? A dull resentment smouldered in her breast. She envied and hated them for the peace they could have which was denied to her."[22]

The last chapter is about her discovering she was pregnant and she is found in a situation where she needs to resolve the issue of whether to ask for help and have the baby. At the end of the day she decides over the passion she has for Dick rather than the baby but after having a presumed abortion with the assistance of Doctor Pringle she is found confused at discovering that Dick has left to take a job opportunity and leaves her a two letter part where he explains that at this was not going to work but he expects her to succeed in her life.[23]


What is to be learned about this book is that this fable story depicts the life of Dorothy Day in this character June. It also says as it was mentioned at the beginning that every Saint has to have past before having a future. This book even though is a novel story of such a girl it reflects how easily is to lose yourself in the fashion of society away from your morals and values. This book will be recommended for those who are trying to find their way into holiness but struggle with temptations of the world. This book is very relatable to how a common girl from her young age to the last moment of the book lost her way without finding the answer to her unhappiness, yet it is found later in her conversion but this tells us about how she was before she became Catholic.






[1] The Dorothy Day Guild: A Woman of Conscience, a Saint for Our Time, Brief Biography, at TheDorothyDayGuild.Org, http://dorothydayguild.org/about-her-life/brief-biography/.
[2] Dorothy Day, The Eleventh Virgin, Part One: Adolescence, Chapter One, (New York: Albert and Charles Boni, 1924), at CatholicWokersMovement.Org, https://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/articles/870.html
[3] Day, The Eleventh Virgin, Chapter One, at CatholicWorkersMovement.Org, https://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/articles/870.html
[4] Day, The Eleventh Virgin, Chapter One, at CatholicWorkersMovement.Org, https://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/articles/870.html
[5] Day, The Eleventh Virgin, Chapter Two, at CatholicWorkersMovement.Org, https://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/articles/871.html
[6] Day, The Eleventh Virgin, Chapter Two, at CatholicWorkersMovement.Org, https://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/articles/871.html
[7] Day, The Eleventh Virgin, Chapter Two, at CatholicWorkersMovement.Org, https://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/articles/871.html
[8] Day, The Eleventh Virgin, Chapter Two, at CatholicWorkersMovement.Org, https://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/articles/871.html
[9] Day, The Eleventh Virgin, Chapter Two, at CatholicWorkersMovement.Org, https://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/articles/871.html
[10] Dorothy Day, The Eleventh Virgin, Part Two: Still Adolescence, Chapter One, (New York: Albert and Charles Boni, 1924), at CatholicWorkersMovement.Org, https://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/articles/875.html
[11] Day, The Eleventh Virgin, Chapter Two, at CatholicWorkersMovement.Org, https://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/articles/876.html
[12] Day, The Eleventh Virgin, Chapter Three, at CatholicWorkersMovement.Org, https://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/articles/877.html
[13] Day, The Eleventh Virgin, Chapter Three, at CatholicWorkersMovement.Org, https://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/articles/877.html
[14] Dorothy Day, The Eleventh Virgin, Part Three: Not So Much, Chapter One, (New York: Albert and Charles Boni, 1924), at CatholicWorkersMovement.Org, https://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/articles/878.html
[15] Day, The Eleventh Virgin, Chapter One, at CatholicWorkersMovement.Org, https://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/articles/878.html
[16] Day, The Eleventh Virgin, Chapter One, at CatholicWorkersMovement.Org, https://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/articles/878.html
[17] Day, The Eleventh Virgin, Chapter One, at CatholicWorkersMovement.Org, https://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/articles/878.html
[18] Day, The Eleventh Virgin, Chapter One, at CatholicWorkersMovement.Org, https://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/articles/878.html
[19] Day, The Eleventh Virgin, Chapter One, at CatholicWorkersMovement.Org, https://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/articles/878.html
[20] Day, The Eleventh Virgin, Chapter Two, at CatholicWorkersMovement.Org, https://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/articles/879.html
[21] Day, The Eleventh Virgin, Chapter Three, at CatholicWorkersMovement.Org, https://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/articles/880.html
[22] Day, The Eleventh Virgin, Chapter Three, at CatholicWorkersMovement.Org, https://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/articles/880.html
[23] Day, The Eleventh Virgin, Chapter Four, at CatholicWorkersMovement.Org, https://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/articles/881.html