When is it?

Isherwood mentions that Sally's suitor Klaus leaves for England in mid-January, and that shortly afterwards, he writes to Sally breaking off their relationship. Isherwood continues to describe how, in the weeks following this, he and Sally spent much of their time together. During this time, Sally expressed that she thinks she may be pregnant but dismisses the topic when encouraged to see a Doctor. It seems to be soon after this that the pair meet Clive and the heavy drinking ensues so I can only deduce that this all takes place around the end of February. Nearing the end of winter, the trees would still be bare and and the weather still particularly cold, in fact, when I looked up the temperature of Berlin at this time of year it seems that it is generally around 10 degrees at it's highest. 

Although it doesn't mention anything about Sally being unwell, I know that she is pregnant at this point and that pregnant women are more prone to cold and flu like viruses. Add to this the cold weather and Sally's heavy drinking and I think her appearance would be suffering considerably. Her skin would be dry, her nose perhaps as red as her bloodshot eyes. Clothing would still be heavy to keep out the cold and in a previous scene, Sally is described as wearing a canary yellow beret and a shabby fur coat. 

I feel this photo I took last winter (right) reflects the gloomy atmosphere of winter in Weimar Berlin, as well as the poor-disguised melancholy of the troubled Sally. 

I also would like to try and find a yellow beret to include in my image as I feel that this would not only link back to the story, but would add to Sally's aura of obsession. As Patti Bellantoni states in her book on colour:

"Bright yellow is associated with obsession, whereas the more orange-amber is welcoming and comforting"

Bellantoni, P. (2005). Innocent, Cautionary and Idyllic Yellows. In: Actipis, E. and Anderson, C. If It's Purple, Someone's Gonna Die. Oxford: Elsevier. p71.