Daddy-Long-Legs

By Jean Webster

“Daddy-Long-Legs” is a 1912 novel by American writer Jean Webster. It revolves around Jerusha "Judy" Abbott, a young girl who grew up in an orphanage. When she is seventeen and her schooling is over, she remains at the orphanage to work in the dormitories. One day, Judy is told that, convinced she has has potential to become an excellent writer, one of the charity trustees has offered to pay her way through college. “Daddy-Long-Legs” is an epistolary novel presented as the letters between Judy, and her unknown benefactor. “Jean Webster” is the pseudonym of Alice Jane Chandler Webster (1876 – 1916), an American writer who authored many well-known books including “Daddy-Long-Legs” and “Dear Enemy”. Her most famous works are often characterised by powerful, likeable young female main characters who experience a maturation and intellectual coming-of-age morally and socially. Including witty humour, snappy dialogue, and social commentary, her works are still read and enjoyed by readers today the world over. Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author.

• Language: English
• Publisher: White Press
• Release date: May 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781528786669

Jean Webster

Jean Webster (1876-1916) was a pseudonym for Alice Jane Chandler Webster, an American author of books that contained humorous and likeable young female protagonists. Her works include Daddy-Long-Legs, Dear Enemy, and When Patty Went to College. Politically and socially active, she often included issues of socio-political interest in her novels.

Book preview

DADDY-LONG-LEGS

By

JEAN WEBSTER

First published in 1912

This edition published by Read Books Ltd.

Copyright © 2019 Read Books Ltd.

This book is copyright and may not be

reproduced or copied in any way without

the express permission of the publisher in writing

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available

fromthe British Library

TO YOU

Contents

Jean Webster

Blue Wednesday

The Letters of Miss Jerusha Abbott to

Mr. Daddy-Long-Legs Smith

Jean Webster

Alice Jane Chandler Webster, perhaps better known under her pseudonym Jean Webster, was born on 24 July 1876, at Fredonia, New York, USA. She was the eldest child of Annie Moffet Webster and Charles Luther Webster, and spent her early childhood in a strongly matriarchal and activist setting. Her great-grandmother, grandmother and mother all lived under the same roof; her great-grandmother working on temperance issues, and her grandmother on racial equality and women’s suffrage. Webster herself remained a lifelong supporter of women’s suffrage and children’s institutional reform. Alice's mother was niece toMark Twain, and her father was Twain's business manager and subsequently publisher of many of his books. Unfortunately, the company ran into difficulties, after which her father had a nervous breakdown and leave of absence. He subsequently committed suicide in 1891 from a drug overdose.

Alice attended the Fredonia Normal School and graduated in 1894 in china painting, thereafter attending the Lady Jane Grey School in Binghamton from 1894-96. It was this latter establishment which provided the inspiration for Webster’s later novel, Just Patty (published 1911). In 1897, Webster enteredVassar College. Majoring in English and economics, she also took courses in welfare and penal reform, and from this point on became heavily involved in improving the living conditions in institutions for delinquent and destitute children. After her graduation in 1901, Webster began writing When Patty Went to College, in which she described contemporary women’s college life. It was published in 1903, to good reviews, which spurred her on to copmplete her second novel The Wheat Princess, published in 1905. In the following years, Webster embarked on an eight month world tour to Burma, China, Egypt, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia,Japan and Sri Lanka with her friends Ethelyn McKinney, Lena Weinstein and two others, as well as writing Jerry Juniorin 1907 andThe Four Pools Mysteryin 1908.

Webster’s most famous novel, Daddy-Long-Legs, was written in less exotic settings however; whilst the author was staying at an old farmhouse in Tyringham, Massachusetts. It tells the story of an orphaned girl, ‘Judy’ whose attendance at a women’s college is sponsored by an anonymous benefactor. The novel takes the form of letters written by the young lady to her sponsor, and met popular and critical acclaim on its release in 1912. Webster later dramatized the work, and spent a substantial amount of time on tour with the play, which starred a young Ruth Chatterton as ‘Judy’. In her personal life, Webster was greatly delighted, when, at the age of thirty nine, she was able to marry her long-held love, Glenn Ford McKinney. The marriage had hitherto been prevented due to the expectations of the groom’s wealthy and successful father – who had forced the young man into an unhappy marriage with Annette Reynaud. Reynaud and McKinney were granted their divorce in 1915, which meant that he and Webster were able to marry in a quiet ceremony in Washington, Connecticut. They honeymooned in Canada, where they were visited by former president Theodore Roosevelt, who invited himself saying, ‘I’ve always wanted to meet Jean Webster. We can put up a partition in the cabin!’ On their return to New York, Webster published Dear Enemy (1915), a sequel toDaddy-Long-Legs, which also proved to be a bestseller. Later that year, Webster was elated to discover she was pregnant, but was warned the pregnancy might be dangerous due to a history of difficult births in the family. Her friends reported that they had never seen her happier; she suffered severely from morning sickness, but was better by February 1916. She entered the Sloan Hospital for Women, New York on 10 June 1916, and gave birth to a healthy daughter. Unfortunately, despite a positive outlook at first, Webster became ill and died of childbirth fever the following day. Her daughter was named Jean in her honour.

Blue Wednesday

The first Wednesday in every month was a Perfectly Awful Day—a day to be awaited with dread, endured with courage and forgotten with haste. Every floor must be spotless, every chair dustless, and every bed without a wrinkle. Ninety-seven squirming little orphans must be scrubbed and combed and buttoned into freshly starched ginghams; and all ninety-seven reminded of their manners, and told to say, 'Yes, sir,' 'No, sir,' whenever a Trustee spoke.

It was a distressing time; and poor Jerusha Abbott, being the oldest orphan, had to bear the brunt of it. But this particular first Wednesday, like its predecessors, finally dragged itself to a close. Jerusha escaped from the pantry where she had been making sandwiches for the asylum's guests, and turned upstairs to accomplish her regular work. Her special care was room F, where eleven little tots, from four to seven, occupied eleven little cots set in a row. Jerusha assembled her charges, straightened their rumpled frocks, wiped their noses, and started them in an orderly and willing line towards the dining-room to engage themselves for a blessed half hour with bread and milk and prune pudding.

Then she dropped down on the window seat and leaned throbbing temples against the cool glass. She had been on her feet since five that morning, doing everybody's bidding, scolded and hurried by a nervous matron. Mrs. Lippett, behind the scenes, did not always maintain that calm and pompous dignity with which she faced an audience of Trustees and lady visitors. Jerusha gazed out across a broad stretch of frozen lawn, beyond the tall iron paling that marked the confines of the asylum, down undulating ridges sprinkled with country estates, to the spires of the village rising from the midst of bare trees.

The day was ended—quite successfully, so far as she knew. The Trustees and the visiting committee had made their rounds, and read their reports, and drunk their tea, and now were hurrying home to their own cheerful firesides, to forget their bothersome little charges for another month. Jerusha leaned forward watching with curiosity—and a touch of wistfulness—the stream of carriages and automobiles that rolled out of the asylum gates. In imagination she followed first one equipage, then another, to the big houses dotted along the hillside. She pictured herself in a fur coat and a velvet hat trimmed with feathers leaning back in the seat and nonchalantly murmuring 'Home' to the driver. But on the door-sill of her home the picture grew blurred.

Jerusha had an imagination—an imagination, Mrs. Lippett told her, that would get her into trouble if she didn't take care—but keen as it was, it could not carry her beyond the front porch of the houses she would enter. Poor, eager, adventurous little Jerusha, in all her seventeen years, had never stepped inside an ordinary house; she could not picture the daily routine of those other human beings who carried on their lives undiscommoded by orphans.

Je-ru-sha Ab-bott

You are wan-ted

In the of-fice,

And I think you'd

Better hurry up!

Tommy Dillon, who had joined the choir, came singing up the stairs and down the corridor, his chant growing louder as he approached room F. Jerusha wrenched herself from the window and refaced the troubles of life.

'Who wants me?' she cut into Tommy's chant with a note of sharp anxiety.

Mrs. Lippett in the office,

And I think she's mad.

Ah-a-men!

Tommy piously intoned, but his accent was not entirely malicious. Even the most hardened little orphan felt sympathy for an erring sister who was summoned to the office to face an annoyed matron; and Tommy liked Jerusha even if she did sometimes jerk him by the arm and nearly scrub his nose off.

Jerusha went without comment, but with two parallel lines on her brow. What could have gone wrong, she wondered. Were the sandwiches not thin enough? Were there shells in the nut cakes? Had a lady visitor seen the hole in Susie Hawthorn's stocking? Had—O horrors!—one of the cherubic little babes in her own room F 'sauced' a Trustee?

The long lower hall had not been lighted, and as she came downstairs, a last Trustee stood, on the point of departure, in the open door that led to the porte-cochere. Jerusha caught only a fleeting impression of the man—and the impression consisted entirely of tallness. He was waving his arm towards an automobile waiting in the curved drive. As it sprang into motion and approached, head on for an instant, the glaring headlights threw his shadow sharply against the wall inside. The shadow pictured grotesquely elongated legs and arms that ran along the floor and up the wall of the corridor. It looked, for all the world, like a huge, wavering daddy-long-legs.

Jerusha's anxious frown gave place to quick laughter. She was by nature a sunny soul, and had always snatched the tiniest excuse to be amused. If one could derive any sort of entertainment out of the oppressive fact of a Trustee, it was something unexpected to the good. She advanced to the office quite cheered by the tiny episode, and presented a smiling face to Mrs. Lippett. To her surprise the matron was also, if not exactly smiling, at least appreciably affable; she wore an expression almost as pleasant as the one she donned for visitors.

'Sit down, Jerusha, I have something to say to you.' Jerusha dropped into the nearest chair and waited with a touch of breathlessness. An automobile flashed past the window; Mrs. Lippett glanced after it.

'Did you notice the gentleman who has just gone?'

'I saw his back.'

'He is one of our most affluential Trustees, and has given large sums of money towards the asylum's support. I am not at liberty to mention his name; he expressly stipulated that he was to remain unknown.'

Jerusha's eyes widened slightly; she was not accustomed to being summoned to the office to discuss the eccentricities of Trustees with the matron.

'This gentleman has taken an interest in several of our boys. You remember Charles Benton and Henry Freize? They were both sent through college by Mr.—er—this Trustee, and both have repaid with hard work and success the money that was so generously expended. Other payment the gentleman does not wish. Heretofore his philanthropies have been directed solely towards the boys; I have never been able to interest him in the slightest degree in any of the girls in the institution, no matter how deserving. He does not, I may tell you, care for girls.'

'No, ma'am,' Jerusha murmured, since some reply seemed to be expected at this point.

'To-day at the regular meeting, the question of your future was brought up.'

Mrs. Lippett allowed a moment of silence to fall, then resumed in a slow, placid manner extremely trying to her hearer's suddenly tightened nerves.

'Usually, as you know, the children are not kept after they are sixteen, but

Reviews for Daddy-Long-Legs

[msstephie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is my first kindle novel, it was free and the only book that interested me, mainly because I'd seen the Fred Astair film, I didn't know it was a book. I loved it, and wish I'd come across it years ago. An easy enjoyable read, I'd recommend it to anyone.
Judy was a likeable heroine, a bit like Anne in Anne of Green Gables.

[reneh-2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a fantastic and witty little book. Another reviewer here wrote that only women should read it. Well, I'm a man and I enjoyed it tremendously. Maybe it was written for young adults in the first place, but I believe that anybody, man or woman, of any age, will - and should - enjoy this 100 years old pearl of literature. Five stars, there can be no doubt about it.

[seasonsoflove_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I think it can be really hard to pull off a book that is solely in letter form-especially when the letters are only from one character-but Webster does a great job of making Judy's world come alive. Judy is a vibrant, entertaining, highly likable character (an orphan sent to college by a mysterious anonymous benefactor, to whom she writes), and this is a quick, delightful read.

[marikolee · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A heartwarming story about Judy Abbott and her adventures at college. It was quite heartwarming at the end. I expected Daddy Longlegs to be the love interest's father, but was pleasantly surprised.

[booksovertv · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved it, very entertaining. A reread for sure.

[anneofia · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The story, told in a series of letters, follows an orphan from her youth in the orphanage to college, which is provided by an anonymous benefactor who only asks that she keep him updated as to her progress. I loved this book as a child and read it many times.

[musicmom41 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In 1912 Webster wrote a delightful epistolary novel (a favorite style for me when it is well done) about an orphan girl who is sponsored anonymously to go to college. The only stipulation is that she must write a progress report to her sponsor each month without expecting to get any replies. It is a delight to accompany Judy as she discovers the world and discovers herself. My recommendation and rating are based entirely on my personal passion for this book.

[merrymary_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a delight! A wonderful book that refuses to age. The college experience, while different in detail from modern times, is still very accurate when it comes to friendship, love, and the growing of a heart.

[katylit · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Sweet old story about an orphan writing letters to an anonymous benefactor who pays for her college education. The orphan, Judy, is a delightful character, very likeable, such a joy in learning. Lots of innocent humour.

[lycomayflower · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I never read this as a kid, but I remember a friend carrying it around with her a lot. @foggidawn reviewed it a little while ago, bringing it back to my attention, and it sounded like fun. I loved it and got very caught up in all the little details of women's college life in the 1910s. The identity of the "mysterious" Daddy-Long-Legs seemed very obvious to me, though I rather suspect I might not have thought so if I had read this when I was ~nine. While some of the story is a bit dated, very little terribly much bothered my modern sensibilities, especially as I think Jersuha would have been a fairly forward-thinking and "modern" woman in her time.

[francescadefreitas · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a wonderful classic, I first read it as a teenager, and I have read it several times since. The story is told through an orphan girl's letters to her mysterious benefactor, as he pays her way through college. There is a delightful sense of the ridiculous in Judy's depiction of her daily life and studies. I find it entertaining both as a simple romance story, and also as a historical look at what life was like at a women's college in the early 1900's.There is a excellent sequel, Dear Enemy, telling the story of Judy's room mate Sally, and her work as the new head of the Judy's childhood orphanage.

[foggidawn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Seventeen-year-old Jerusha Abbott has spent her entire life at the John Grier Home, an orphanage. When one of the trustees takes an interest in her (due to a humorous but unflattering essay on visiting day at the orphanage) and decides to send her to college. He elects to remain anonymous; all Jerusha knows is that he is tall (she caught a glimpse of him silhouetted in the doorway on his way out), rich, and has only ever sponsored the education of boys before. One of the conditions of her education is that she is to write him monthly letters on her progress, with the understanding that he will not respond in any way. This book comprises that one-way correspondence, and readers will soon find themselves charmed by Jerusha's youthful exuberance and zest for life. But will she ever discover the identity of her mysterious benefactor?Some aspects of this book are indicative of its time, but all in all, I think it holds up pretty well. I know of readers who are bothered by certain aspects of the book, particularly the ending, but I find I don't mind them, even on a second reading. All in all, I found it a pleasant, quick reread, and will probably read it again at some time in the future.

[riofriotex · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The audiobook reader, Julia Whelan, sounded the right age (17-21), but read too fast, not pausing enough between the letters. Predictable ending. Couldn't view the downloadable material which supposedly includes some very childish stick-figure drawings (some referred to in the text) by Webster. Sounds like it is no great loss.

[murphy4jacobs · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Of course I have seen the movie a dozen times so I started looking for the book a few years ago. In many ways, of course, the book is better -- the movie replaced the social commentary and sparks of independent woman with musical numbers and 1950s sauciness and a lot of Fred Astaire (which is fine in a musical but...). in fact, i was a bit suprised how closely the movie did adhere to the spine of the novel...although only to the sweet parts of the spine.

The book was published in 1912 but the thoughts and feelings of the young protagonist felt so very contemporary and fresh. As an epistolary novel it is unusual because we see only one person, really, writing, so it is more of a diary in letter form, but that works quite well to reveal the characters sussinctly.

I have the next book waiting (Dear Enemy) waiting for me.

[strandbooks_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I picked this up at the Books on Tap book club at Forager. It was recommended by one of Rochester's librarians as one of her favorites as a kid. It surprised me that it was written in 1912. The story follows Jerusha, an orphan, who is picked by a secret trustee of the orphanage to go to college. The story is predictable, but fun to read. I know if I had read it at age 12 it would have been a favorite like Anne of Green Gables, David Copperfield and Oliver Twist. Books about orphans seem to be a successful formula for pre-teens!

[citizenjoyce · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a wonderful book about the the education of a young girl saved from oppression and poverty in an orphanage and sent to college by an anonymous benefactor who requests for his largess that she write him a letter every month telling him about her progress. There's insightful feminist commentary about politics, religion, forced gratitude, mingling of the classes, and the methods and meaning of education.

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was expecting to find Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster a light-hearted, sentimental read that would barely hold my interest. Well, yes, it is both light-hearted and sentimental but I also found an element of creepiness in the relationship that Daddy and Judy had. Starting out as a benefactor to an orphan by paying for her to go to college, his lurking in the background, pulling the strings and almost shaping this young girl into his future wife was rather disturbing. However, now that I have voiced my concern, I do have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Daddy-Long-Legs is presented in a letter format as Judy is instructed to write to her benefactor and keep him up to date on her life. She calls him Daddy-Long-Legs as she only ever saw a quick glance at him from behind and remembered him mostly for the length of the shadow he cast. She dutifully writes him, and here lies the charm of this book. Her letters are fun, breezy informative chat-fests. She is an open book and tells all, establishing a relationship with this shadow figure who continues to hide his identity.Over the course of the book we discover that Judy isn’t the meek and mild orphan that she appears to be, she has backbone and an inner strength and when she wants to she knows how to stand up for herself. By the book’s end, it is clear that Judy will have a wonderful life with her Daddy-Long-Legs, and in a romantic tale such as this, this is the happy ending that was hoped for.

[ashishg_50 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read this long time ago so I don't remember details much. However, I do remember that book is collection of letters of girl to his (fictional) father. It did have some nice moments and definitely is an unconventional book worth going through.

[knitcrazybooknut · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Quiet, well-written novel about an orphaned girl with a private benefactor she's never met. The story, while slightly formulaic, is very well-written, and the voice is completely engaging and believable.

[bell7_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Jerusha is an orphan at the John Grier home, a teen who has worked for her room and board since graduating early from high school. When one of the orphanage trustees anonymously provides her with money for college, she has the opportunity of a lifetime. Her story is conveyed in the letters she sends her benefactor - whom she calls Daddy-Long-Legs after a glimpse of his tall shadow - as she grows to know the wide world beyond the orphanage.This book was written in 1912, and I couldn't help but make comparisons to the story of another orphan, published only four years before. Like Anne Shirley, Jerusha is full of life and humor, quirky phrases, and sometimes swinging from emotional highs to the depths of despair. She never knew a family, and she wants to be an authoress. But there are substantial differences as well. The format is almost entirely letters, and the author often calls attention to the fact that this is a story - Jerusha, who quickly renames herself Judy, often makes comments like "if we were in a storybook" or "if we were story characters." Judy also talks more about what she's learning academically, discussing such subjects as languages, biology, and philosophy. She has rather more progressive politics than Anne, who, I daresay, would find some of Jerusha's educated opinions shocking (and Rachel Lynde would have found them downright blasphemous). An entertaining read, but one that I would expect would interest adults interested in classic young adult literature or the history of women's colleges than today's teens.

[pussreboots · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster is a hundred year old epistolary novel about a young woman getting a chance to follow her dreams because of the sponsorship of an unnamed benefactor. The story follows Jershua "Judy" Abbott through her college education and the early days of her career as a writer.I come to the book, though, through the 1955 film adaptation staring Fred Astaire as the titular character and Leslie Caron as Judy (renamed Julie for the movie). While the gist of the film is the same as the book: older man provides money for a younger woman's college education — the set up is completely different and more troubling. At the time the film was made, Fred Astaire was more than twice Leslie Caron's age. Although he plays a young-at-heart character (one enamored with rock and roll drumming), he is still clearly old enough to be her father.So it was with an uneasy curiosity that I read Jean Webster's book.The differences between the film and original source material are immediately apparent. First and foremost — the setting is domestic. Judy, though still an orphan, has been raised in the United States. She is not an exotic — post WWII French teacher of French orphans. She is, instead, an American contemporary with LM Montgomery's Anne Shirley. Judy's experience at the orphanage and her sponsorship into an American university, is therefore, recognizable and credible — something the film version can't pull off.In the film, there is a heavy dose of voyeurism of the dirty old man variety as Julie's benefactor befriends her under false pretenses and otherwise keeps an eye on her. Of course voyeurism is part and parcel of film story telling but it's clearly at odds here with the source material. In the book, Judy and Jervys (changed to Jervis in the film), do meet and become friends, as he keeps up the secret identity as her benefactor. But their meeting is circumstantial and as he's significantly closer in age to her (late twenties/early thirties to her late teens/early twenties), it is far more plausible that she and he would become more than just friends.Judy's letters are written in a believable, charming voice that rings true a century later — and I suspect well into the next century. Along with her quirky turns of phrase are drawings, little sketches that Judy sometimes sends along in her missives. They too add to the overall appeal of the novel.Keeping all those thoughts in mind, I adore the novel. It is delightful. Anyone who loves LM Montgomery's books or anyone who is a fan of Louise Rennison's books, will enjoy Daddy-Long-Legs.

[haklh · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I first read this in my teens and I really loved it - I found it funny, and charming, and romantic. I loved the cheerful but unsentimental tone of the story, and I loved how fresh and vivid and likeable Judy was.

BUT
I re-read this recently, and while I still enjoyed its humour and its happy ending, I am a bit more ambivalent about the Judy/Daddy-Long-Legs relationship. Now that I am older and more aware of things like the connection between relationships and power, I can see instances where Daddy Long Legs' behaviour is controlling and possessive (e.g. when he ordered Judy to head to the farm for the summer, rather than spend it with her friend Sallie (and her brother Jimmy).

I think part of my unease is because I can't see how the romance has developed, based on the one-sided communication - perhaps he just wants her because she is totally under his control!? Dear Daddy Long Legs, I want to know how you fell in love with Judy. I want to see your actions justified in the name of jealousy borne out of infatuation. Please tell your side of the story!

[byroade · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Judy Abbott, a bright young orphan, is the first girl sent to college by one of the orphanage's trustees. Her only obligation is to write a monthly letter summing up her studies. Her benefactor is anonymous, so she bestows the name "Daddy-Long-Legs" on him because she's only seen his tall shadow. The novel is told in her letters to him, relating her college experiences which reveal not only her lively intelligence but the deprivations of her institutional upbringing. It is one of the more completely satisfying stories I have ever read. It provides a vivid slice of life at a woman's college early in the 20th century. Webster was a graduate of Vassar College.

[jean_sexton-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

How did I miss this book for so long? It was a thoroughly delightful book that made me smile and laugh out loud. There are really two main characters in the book. Jerusha Abbott writes letters to her benefactor whom she calls Daddy Long Legs, well, most of the time. The other is the unseen Daddy Long Legs.I fell in love with Jerusha. She's remarkable independent, especially considering the time period the book was written in. She has a keen eye for people and the ability to make the reader see them, too. Her letters are clever, amusing, and yet filled with insight. I loved watching her grow up.If you enjoy well-written books, this should interest you. Be aware there are illustrations that matter to the book, so be sure the version you get has those illustrations.

[whisper1_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I tremendously enjoyed this poignant tale of young orphaned Jerusha Abbot brought up in the John Grier Home where daily submission and repeated groveling is expected.When a board of trustee member provides funds for her college education, she escapes the confinements of the home and ventures into the world of elite privilege.With no knowledge of social mores, she develops a spirit tough enough to know she is of equal intellect, but pliant enough to know she has a lot to learn. Jerusha's paradoxical feelings of self assuredness and insecurity are excellently described and keenly felt.Unaccustomed, she bubbles along, feeling out of place, but, she is also spunky enough to overcome the ackwardness of a life of poverty.Writing letters to her unseen, mysterious benefactor whom she only glimpsed as he walked away from the home, and, noting he was tall, she now pens heart felt missives to "Daddy Long Legs."This is a book that grabbed and kept my attention. It is wonderfully written with a keen sense of the need for social justice and of the tenacity of the human spirit.Highly recommended.

[adonisguilfoyle · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another American classic, this one not half so preachy and therefore enjoyable. A few years ago, I read Dear Mr Knightley by Katherine Reay, which is an update of Jean Webster's 1912 novel, and was not impressed. The epistolary form is a difficult style of narrative to pull off, and the premise of an anonymous benefactor dictating the life of a disadvantaged young woman certainly doesn't translate well into a modern setting. The original, however, is short and sweet.When Jerusha Abbott turns seventeen, she is told that an anonymous trustee of the orphanage has offered to send her to college, on the condition that she writes him a letter every month. For the next four years, Jerusha - who wisely changes her name to Judy - fulfils her side of the arrangement, penning witty, forthright and free-spirited accounts of her life at college. Her benefactor never replies directly, but occasionally sends a message through his secretary - usually when trying to control Judy's life, telling here where she is allowed to spend her summers and whether or not to accept a scholarship. That side of the story remains a little worrying - not to mention how she calls her guardian 'Daddy Long Legs' and sometimes just 'Daddy' - but luckily Judy is a strong-minded young woman who knows how to pick her battles!I loved some of Judy's thoughts, on religion - 'Their god (whom they have inherited intact from their remote Puritan ancestors) is a narrow, irrational, unjust, mean, revengeful, bigoted person. Thank heaven I don't inherit any god from anybody!' - and imagination - 'It makes people able to put themselves in other people's places. It makes them kind and sympathetic and understanding. It ought to be cultivated in children' - and enjoyed her character. She's from a poor background without family, yes, but doesn't bang on about how having no money is some sort of spiritual experience like A Tree Grows In Brooklyn or how women exist only to serve others (Louisa May Alcott, looking at you).Great fun - I bought an actual printed copy, shock horror, and will definitely keep to read again.

[saretta7l · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Perchè non ho mai letto questo romanzo prima? (tutta colpa dell'irritante Judy nell'omonimo anime)
E' un bellissimo romanzo epistolare e Judy è un personaggio fantastico, una ragazza positiva e dalle sue lettere traspare il senso dell'umorismo, l'amore per lo studio e l'ostinazione nel voler crescere con le sue forze.
La struttura epistolare è decisamente coinvolgente e molto scorrevole; l'ebook gratuito di "girlebooks" ha anche il vantaggio di avere le illustrazioni originali, simpatiche e in linea con il carattere di Judy.
Assolutamente consigliato.

---
Why I did not read this novel before? (all the blame to the noisy Judy from the homonymous Japanese anime).
This is a wonderful epistolary novel and Judy is a great female character, always positive; her letters are humoristic and they show her love in studying and her stubbornness in wanting to grow up with her own strength.
The epistolary structure is very involving and fluent; the free ebook by "girlebooks" contains also the original illustration that are nice and Judy-like.
Absolutely recommended.

[carolynschroeder · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a really cute book that ages surprisingly well! I had asked for "feel good" book suggestions (was feeling down in the dumps), and a few people came up with this one. It is just a simple story, about a young woman raised in an orphanage who gets a wealthy benefactor who sends her to college. His only requirement is that she send him letters of her life and education at college. He doesn't write back. She nicknames him "Daddy Long Legs" (from a fleeting glimpse she had of him) but otherwise, he is anonymous. The book is mostly comprised of her letters, which are insightful, very witty and funny and because her background is so different from the "rich girls" she looks at things in a unique way. There is much about appreciating the small wonders in life. So it really is a nice little book. There is a surprise ending, which is a good one, fit well. This is not amazing literature, but it's a great escape for an afternoon. I recommend it well, for a "feel good" book!

[karin7-11 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster

5 stars and a heart

Written and set in pre-WWI Northeastern USA.

Jerusha (Judy) Abbott grew up an an orphanage, but is offered a full college education with allowance by an anonymous trustee who appreciates a witty high school essay she wrote about life in the orphanage. Her one form of repayment is to write him a letter each month and to address it to Mr. John Smith. Having seen his shadow and knowing he had long legs, she starts writing to Daddy Long Legs after the second letter, and her colourful, illustrated letters take us through her four years of school including the summer breaks.

If you've never read it, it's really something that, while totally different, is right up there with Anne of Green Gables (from a similar time; I'm not sure why it hasn't stayed as popular other than she is older than Anne when Anne starts out. There's no sentimentality, but it is definitely a fun read.

[audacity88_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A charming novel, which is apparently a classic but which I had never heard of as a child - presumably because the winter-spring romance that develops would now be considered scandalous. But I found it enjoyable and not too implausible as far as romances go, and enjoyed the letter format - reminiscent of Pride & Prejudice.