44 pages • 1 hour read
November 9
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Part 1Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 1: “First November 9th”
Part 1, Chapter 1 Summary: “Fallon”
An angry 18-year-old Fallon O’Neil meets her father, once famous television actor Donovan O’Neil, for lunch to tell him that she’s moving to New York to pursue an acting career on Broadway. This day happens to be the anniversary of a house fire that happened two years ago at Donovan’s house, but he doesn’t acknowledge it. Fallon can’t help but remember because the fire left her with scars on the left half of her body. She blames her father for the scars as he didn’t tell the firemen that she was in the house because he forgot she was there. Her relationship with her father is tense, and his response to her move underscores this fact. Rather than support Fallon’s decision, he tells her that she’s making a mistake. He says she’ll never get her acting career back now that she’s scarred and that she should focus on something else, like going to college. As Fallon argues with him, a young man with “intense, curious eyes” (9) slips into the seat beside her, claiming to be her boyfriend. The young man argues with Donovan until he leaves.
Part 1, Chapter 2 Summary: “Ben”
The young man, Benton “Ben” James Kessler, and Fallon leave the restaurant to get dessert at a local frozen yogurt place. They talk about what happened at the restaurant, and Ben convinces Fallon that he only wants to help. Fallon invites him to her apartment to help her pack for New York.
Part 1, Chapter 3 Summary: “Fallon”
Fallon and Ben go to her apartment to pack, and she introduces him to her best friend, Amber, and Amber’s boyfriend, Glenn. Ben makes a reservation at an expensive restaurant for dinner. He goes into Fallon’s closet and begins digging through her clothes, finally choosing a revealing black dress. He wants her to wear the dress to dinner, but she refuses because it would show her scars. Ben insists, and they argue for a moment. He proceeds to undress Fallon so he can see her scars.
Part 1, Chapter 4 Summary: “Ben”
Fallon convinces Ben to go home so he can shower and change for dinner. He does, having a brief discussion with his older brother, Kyle, about his absence the night before. Ben returns to Fallon’s apartment an hour before he’s supposed to. He and Fallon lie on her bed, and he runs his hands over her scars, telling her that he likes the feel of them. Ben wants her phone number, but she refuses.
Part 1, Chapter 5 Summary: “Fallon”
Fallon and Ben fall asleep and miss their dinner reservation; they are upset that they missed their final two hours together. Fallon walks Ben to the door, but then he kisses her. They start to go back to the bedroom, but she changes her mind, and they passionately kiss in the hallway. Fallon decides to ask Ben to drive her to the airport. As they prepare to leave, he again asks for her phone number—but Fallon insists that she cannot fall in love until she is 23 because of her mother’s advice. She tells Ben to write a book about their brief love affair. Ben instead suggests they meet at a set restaurant at the same time each year for 5 years (November 9th), and when they are 23, they can decide if they are ready to be together; Fallon agrees. They give each other homework: Fallon is to kiss at least four boys and go to one audition a week, while Ben is to read five romance novels to prepare for his book about their relationship.
Part 1 Analysis
November 9 is divided into seven parts, each labeled with the specific November 9th on which Fallon and Ben meet. Each part is divided into chapters that are each labeled with either Fallon or Ben’s name, with them being the first-person narrators of the novel.
When 18-year-old Fallon O’Neil was 16, she was scarred in a fire and this tragedy has changed her behavior, self-confidence, and relationships. She dresses to cover up her scars, often wearing long sleeves and long pants, as well as using her long hair to cover the scars on her face. Once an outgoing actress, Fallon is now more of a recluse, hiding from the world out of fear of how people will respond to her. On the other hand, her love interest, Ben Kessler, is outgoing, as illustrated by his choice to join an argument that has nothing to do with him; he is described as having “bedhead” and clothing that he might have worn the day before. Ben is the same age as Fallon, but unlike her, he is in college pursuing a degree while she is attempting to recapture the successful acting career she lost after the fire.
The novel begins with Fallon having an antagonistic lunch with her father, former actor Donovan O’Neil. She paints him as lacking in compassion, pointing out that she has scars on the left side of her body as she was staying at his house the night it caught fire—and he failed to tell first responders that she was there because he forgot she was there. This memory carries a great deal of anger for Donovan. To Fallon, her scars serve as proof that her father cares little for her, bar him possibly living vicariously through her acting career.
Ben comes into Fallon’s life by pretending to be her boyfriend and defending her from Donovan’s lack of support. Such is the “fake relationship” trope (a popular one in romance), bringing Fallon and Ben together as strangers and immediately pushing them into an intimate relationship. Fallon is reclusive and self-conscious because of her scars and has not dated since she was 16—and these dates were staged to promote her television show, so it takes a minute for her to trust Ben. However, he treats her with such compassion that she invites him to her apartment, using the fact that she is moving to New York in a matter of hours as a way to protect herself.
Ben bursts into Fallon’s life with an easy air and humor that are like a breath of fresh air for her. After the fire, Fallon believed she would never be considered beautiful ever again, so meeting Ben—who treats her with interest and kindness—helps restore her confidence. She acts outside of her comfort zone because Ben pulls her out of it.
Fallon removes her clothing at one point, showing her scars to Ben. This is the first time she has done so outside of a medical setting. Fallon’s level of trust in Ben is inspired by his treatment of her being so different from that of others; his gentle touch and affectionate gaze upon looking at her scars help her feel comfortable. However, she learned from her parents’ failed marriage not to rush into “insta-love” (74), and her decision to not consider an official relationship with Ben is a result of this lesson. This fear of insta-love is also the basis of the novel itself, because it leads to Fallon and Ben deciding to only contact each other once a year for the next five years.
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