Time elapsed in this book: 3 weeks
Length of their junior year: 9 months
Jessica’s love interests: Pete McCafferty
Entertainment rating: 5/10
This is one of those books that is absolutely iconic and yet absolutely terrible in hindsight, playing into an overused (and harmful) Lolita trope that seems to reinforce its “normalcy” and make such behavior and accusations seem commonplace. There is entertainment to be had in this book for sure, but there are also awkward scenes and poor messaging.
Tom Devlin, Ned Wakefield’s old college roommate, suggests that he send his daughter, Suzanne, to Sweet Valley for two weeks while the Wakefields send one of the twins to New York. Ned says he wishes they could send both twins to New York but thinks it’s more sensible to set that money aside for college and just send one of the girls. Yeah, that seems fair (insert eye roll here). Maybe they should buy airline tickets earlier than the week before so flights aren’t so expensive. Also, where is this concern with money when the twins go to Kansas or London or New York (again) or Paris later in the series? Jess really wants to go to New York, and Liz suggests their parents flip a coin for the honor to make the decision “fair.” Liz wins the coin toss and tells Jess she’s sure Jess will have another chance to visit NYC.
Jess is inconsolable. Liz tells her she’ll have fun over spring break and that staying home means she won’t miss the class picnic or Lila’s birthday party. Jess uses the moment to her advantage and tells Liz that Todd will likely go to the party by himself (these things require a date, you know) but that he’s too good looking to stay single for long. Liz starts to get worried. Jess tells her that Lila’s always had a crush on Todd but that Liz could always choose to stay home to keep an eye on Todd… Liz says Jess is trying to talk her out of going to New York, and Jess immediately thanks her for agreeing and shouts the news to their parents.
Travel day arrives! Jess leaves and half an hour later, Suzanne appears. She is tall and beautiful, with black hair and violet-blue eyes, a combination that is rarely seen outside Sweet Valley but used judiciously in this fictional world. Suzanne is friendly and charming and tells them she’d recognize them anywhere and is thrilled to finally meet them after having heard so many stories.
When they get home, Liz and Suzanne swim in the pool, and Liz feels self-conscious about her figure when compared to Suzanne’s. That’s how you know what a knockout Suzanne is; she makes the twins look less than a 10/10. Meanwhile, Steven, who’s home for his spring break, is on the phone with Tricia, sounding frustrated because she seems to be pushing him away. That evening, they have a great family dinner and Suzanne insists on cleaning, dazzling the entire family with her helpfulness.
The next day is the annual junior class picnic. Liz brings Suzanne, and the SVH guys trip over themselves to impress her. For some reason, Bruce and a few other nameless seniors are at the picnic too, and he’s also smitten. Rereading this series now, I wonder why they decided to make Bruce a senior when he’s always hanging out with the juniors. Probably to give him some gravitas. Enid tells Liz that it’s probably a good thing Jess is across the country, since she’d be jealous of the attention Suzanne is getting! After they eat, everyone plays volleyball and enjoys the water. Suddenly Liz notices a figure in the lake, flailing. It’s Suzanne! She’s in trouble! Liz points it out to Mr. Collins, who’s at the picnic as a chaperone and unofficial lifeguard. He immediately dives in and swims over to rescue her. Suzanne says she’s so grateful and that without him, she would have drowned! Once Mr. Collins leaves, the SVH guys surround her and try to woo her once again. Liz watches the scene and is a bit confused, since they’d been in the pool the day before and Suzanne had been such a strong swimmer. What changed?
Meanwhile, in NYC, Jessica’s own adventures are getting underway. The Devlins picked her up at the airport and took her to their apartment in a limo (Mrs. Devlin refuses to ride in taxis, which she claims are driven by “dreadful little men”). She went shopping but couldn’t really afford anything so she picked up sample perfumes. Now, left in their apartment alone, Jess opens the door to find a gorgeous guy, who introduces himself as Pete McCafferty, Suzanne’s boyfriend. Naturally, he is gorgeous and has a super sexy voice. Pete says he just came by to drop off tickets for a piano concert that he thought the Devlins might like. Jess says that the Devlins are going to a party that night and suggests that Pete take her instead. He seems nonchalant but ultimately agrees and says he’ll pick her up that evening.
Jess spends the afternoon getting ready. She uses all of Suzanne’s makeup and then raids her closet, finding a black cocktail dress that she thinks makes her look at least nineteen. She imagines what Pete will think when he sees her. Things don’t work out as planned. Pete is more than half an hour late to pick her up, doesn’t apologize, and when he finally comments on her dress, it’s only to ask if it’s one of Suzanne’s. Jess is furious! For dinner, they go to Windows on the World, the restaurant at the top of the World Trade Center. Aww, what a dated reference. Pete orders wine and the waiter fills up Jessica’s glass too. Jess can’t figure out why Pete isn’t showing more interest in her. They go to the concert, which she finds boring, and then Jess suggests that Pete wait with her until the Devlins get home, but he says he has to run and takes off without even kissing her. The nerve!
The next morning, Liz is in a tizzy because she’s lost her gold lavaliere, which Ned and Alice gave the twins for their 16th birthdays. Suzanne says she’ll help Liz look later. She’s made breakfast for the Wakefield family, and the phone’s been ringing off the hook ever since the picnic. Lila invited Suzanne over to play tennis and talk about New York, and she’s gotten two calls from Tom McKay, three from Aaron Dallas, one from Bruce Patman, and twelve from Winston Egbert. Apparently Mandy Farmer, Winston’s old girlfriend, moved away. Suzanne told them all that she’s flattered but that she wants to spend her short time in Sweet Valley with Elizabeth. So, that day, she goes the beach with Liz, Todd, Enid, and George. Suzanne asks if Liz wants to look for her necklace before they leave but Liz says they can do that later. Suzanne sympathizes with Liz about losing something meaningful, all the while wrapping her own hand around the missing necklace in her pocket. Gasp!!
On the way to the beach, they stop at Mr. Collins’ house so Liz can drop off something for The Oracle. Suzanne offers to run it up for her, saying she wants to thank him again for saving her life. He’s watering the grass and doesn’t look especially happy to see Suzanne. She asks for a drink of water from the hose and then “accidentally” sprays it all over her shirt. She calls herself a klutz and Mr. Collins mutters something about how she knows what she’s doing.
In New York, things aren’t great. Mr. Devlin is always at one event or another, and Mrs. Devlin is stuck up and Jess feels uncomfortable around her. Why did they suggest a daughter swap if they wouldn’t be around? And why didn’t I notice this as a kid? Jess goes to a party that one of Suzanne’s friends throws and after briefly being introduced around, no one really talks to her, instead talking about what to do with their inheritances: putting the money in the stock market, investing in diamonds… Jess has a glass of champagne, then another glass, and next thing she knows, she’s tipsy, feeling sick, and everyone else makes snide remarks about how she can’t hold her liquor but this is expected because she’s from California.
Back in Sweet Valley, Todd invites Liz to a Lakers game. She can’t go because she’s promised to babysit Teddy, Mr. Collins’ son. Suzanne overhears this and offers to do it, saying helping other people makes her happy. Liz is impressed and says she should call Mr. Collins to let him know. Suzanne says she’ll take care of it.
Of course, Suzanne doesn’t call Mr. Collins ahead of time. She loves the surprised look on Mr. Collins’ face when he opens the door. Suzanne says Liz asked her to take her place and that Liz must have forgotten to call him. Mr. Collins says that doesn’t sound like Liz but that it’s too late for him to back out of dinner with friends, so it’ll have to do. As soon as Mr. Collins leaves, Suzanne drops the act and ignores Teddy, as she only took this job to get close to Mr. Collins. She tells Teddy to entertain himself and thinks it’s fitting since she had to entertain herself for years while at boarding school. Suzanne snoops around the house but doesn’t find anything incriminating and is disappointed. She figured she’d at least find a Playboy somewhere. She takes a bath and comes out to find that Teddy has cried himself to sleep in front of the TV.
Suzanne puts on soft, romantic music, undoes a button on her blouse, and pretends to be asleep in a chair when Mr. Collins gets home. He says he can take her home, and she asks why he isn’t offering her a glass of wine or something. He says she’s too young to drink. Suzanne tries to kiss him and he pulls away, rejecting her advance. Mr. Collins says he’ll wait for Suzanne in the car. She refuses to accept a ride from him and walks home instead.
In New York, Jessica goes out with Pete again, still unsure why he doesn’t seem interested in her. They take a horse-drawn carriage; Jess says it’s romantic, Pete says it’s touristy. I don’t know why Jess is even interested in this dud. I guess it’s about the challenge and not about him. I also don’t get why he keeps going out with her. They go back to the Devlins’ apartment and Jess lays it on even thicker, hinting that he should kiss her. He goes to their liquor cabinet, pours them brandy, then turns down the lights and starts kissing her! Jess is initially elated, then realizes that he has more than just kissing on his mind. Things feel out of control and she tells him to stop. He laughs and tells her that he’s only doing what she’s been begging for. He lunges for her once more, and just then the Devlins walk in! They kick him out and tell him they never want to see him again and neither will Suzanne when she hears about this.
Back to Sweet Valley. On the walk home, Suzanne pulls her blouse until it rips. When she gets home, she acts ashamed in front of Liz and then “confesses” that Mr. Collins tried to attack her and that she only barely got away! Liz can’t believe Mr. Collins would do such a thing, but also can’t believe Suzanne would lie about it.
Liz’s dad tells the principal, who notifies the school board, and soon everyone knows. Liz tells Todd that the night it happened, her dad went to talk to Mr. Collins, who seemed upset but said he wasn’t going to publicly deny it because people would believe what they wanted. I am cringing so hard at all of this as an adult. We have Suzanne, who’s portrayed as completely in control and manipulating everyone. The whole trope of “fake rape” in books like this normalizes this scenario and makes real cases harder for the public to believe because it exaggerates how common fake claims are. It’s also frustrating because people in the book are responding the way you’d want them to: by believing the victim for the most part. And of course, once it’s revealed that the victim is lying, they’ll be less likely to believe such accusations in the future. This is not a good message to be sending to readers! Also, why wouldn’t Mr. Collins defend himself?
Olivia Davidson says she doesn’t believe the story, while Cara Walker says she totally believes it because she’s seen Mr. Collins looking at her, plus he gave her a D on her last essay. Ken points out the obvious flaw in this argument: if Mr. Collins really had the hots for Cara, why would he give her a D? John Pfeifer says they shouldn’t judge until they hear all the evidence, and Caroline Pearce says the whole thing is too disgusting for words.
Suzanne and Liz get ready for Lila’s birthday party. Suzanne tells Liz that she thinks of her like a sister, and Liz is so touched that she wonders how she could ever doubt Suzanne for a minute! Suzanne also thanks Liz for helping Mr. Collins get what he deserves, which briefly gives Liz pause and then she shakes off the odd feeling. Suzanne heads downstairs because her date for the party, Aaron, has arrives. Liz takes the moment to hide a going away gift for Suzanne in her luggage. When she opens Suzanne’s suitcase, she finds her missing necklace! Liz realizes it could only be there if Suzanne took it! She puts on the lavaliere and heads downstairs to meet Todd.
Liz tells Todd what happened and they agree that if Suzanne lied about this, she might also have lied about Mr. Collins. They go to Mr. Collins’ house to ask him what really happened that night. In response, he says, “What do you think?” Liz realizes that he’s innocent! Mr. Collins tells her that Suzanne is a very troubled young lady but that Liz shouldn’t stop trusting people.
Liz and Todd make it to the country club. I guess Lila is turning 17? I don’t know if we ever hear her age again, but she can’t be turning 16 since she already has her driver’s license. Suzanne is there, surrounded by admirers and inwardly gloating at how she’s made everyone fall in love with her. Liz asks to speak with Suzanne in private. Suzanne notices that Liz is wearing her necklace, meaning she went through her suitcase, which angers Suzanne. But Suzanne acts innocent, claiming it must have gotten caught on a piece of her clothing because she’d never steal something! Liz tells Suzanne that Mr. Collins was right, Suzanne is the biggest loser around. Suzanne suddenly drops the act and tells Liz so what if she lied? She claims that no one will believe Liz if she tries to tell anyone, since they all love Suzanne and it’ll be her word against Liz’s.
The two of them part, and Suzanne immediately gets to work. She tells Cara that Liz has been acting weird, ever since she fell and hit her head. Suzanne says she’s concerned that it’s another episode like what happened after Liz was in the motorcycle accident! Cara immediately starts to spread the word, and soon everyone thinks Liz is going crazy. Liz gets wind of it and realizes that Suzanne was even quicker and more proactive that expected. Liz confronts Suzanne and tells her to quit lying. Suzanne doesn’t drop the act. Winston walks by and accidentally spills a glass of punch on Suzanne. This is all it takes to make her lose it and she starts screaming at Winston about how he’s an idiot! Then she realizes she has an audience and tries to recover, but the damage is done. Everyone realizes it’s all been an act and backs away from her! They also realize that Mr. Collins is innocent!
Liz thanks Winston for his nicely timed accident and he says it was no accident, he’d overheard their earlier conversation and knew Suzanne was lying. Liz thanks him for spilling it on purpose and kisses him on the cheek to show her thanks. Todd says Liz is lucky he’s not the jealous type. Sure, Todd isn’t acting out based on jealousy now, but I’d hardly call him “not the jealous type.”
Suzanne flies back to New York without speaking to Liz again, and Jess returns with stories about how great New York was. Steven is still at home and Tricia cancels their next date. Things are basically back to normal.
Notes:
After all the work Suzanne spent trying to make everyone love her and believe her, all it took to unmask her was Winston spilling punch on her? It made for a great story when I was 12. It makes me skeptical as an adult.
Coming up next: we find out what’s going on in Steven and Tricia’s relationship!