Title: Daddy-Long-Legs
Author: Jean Webster
Series: Daddy-Long-Legs, book 1
Major Themes: Orphans, Epistolary, Classics
Synopsis: An unknown benefactor has paid for orphan Jerusha Abbott’s education, with one stipulation—she must write him letters and update him on her progress.
I’ve been a fan of classics for many years, and I love following people online who also enjoy classics. A while back, I heard Chantel Klassen, a Booktuber, talking about Daddy-Long-Legs. That reminded me that it had been recommended to me years ago, but I never took the time to pick it up. We didn’t have it on our shelves at home, though, and I never quite got around to opening the digital version I had. I’m so glad I waited, because not too long ago, I found a copy in a used book store while on a trip—and this made the perfect traveling companion! What a lovely story!
Publisher’s description:
From poor lonely orphan to sophisticated young woman—Jerusha Abbott can hardly believe her good fortune.
All her life Jerusha has lived at the dreary John Grier Home for orphans. Now that she’s seventeen, her time there is up and her prospects for the future are dim. But suddenly an anonymous benefactor sends her to a posh northeastern college for women. All Jerusha must do in return is write to the man she nicknames Daddy-Long-Legs and tell him of her progress.
And what progress there is! Jerusha—now Judy because she has always hated her name—reads everything from Mother Goose to Plato, joins the basketball team, buys her first pair of stockings, writes a novel, wins a scholarship, lives with two roommates who couldn’t be more different; and, for the first time in her life, falls in love.
My thoughts:
I fell in love with Judy from almost the first page. She’s naturally self-deprecating in the best sort of way, and as she starts to build a new life for herself outside the orphan’s home she always knew, she has the most hilarious observations about her new life and those around her! She’s a rather jovial sort, always seeing the bright side of life (or as close to it as she can); that’s something I long to do, but haven’t attained to yet. And yes, sometimes she offers rather scathing criticisms of some people, which is also amusing to read about. Plus, her drawings depicting important events are hilarious!
Daddy-Long-Legs is a short book, but it contains a lot of character, imagination, and joy. I didn’t agree with her perspectives on everything; she does tend to be fairly critical of the church and Christian faith in general—if not outright antagonistic at times. Overall, this is a fun read, and I can’t wait to dive into Dear Enemy (which we do have on the shelf at home) and find out where she goes from here. A sweet, humorous story, fast-paced enough and gripping enough that it doesn’t feel like it was first published in 1912! Recommended.
WARNING: First year: 15th November: Thank goodness. 19th December: “I didn’t know that people used to be monkeys and that the Garden of Eden was a beautiful myth.” On the Eve (sometime in December): Lying, “On the topmost branches of her family tree there’s a superior breed of monkeys.…” Sunday (in July): “Their God…is a narrow, irrational, unjust, mean, revengeful, bigoted Person. Thank heaven I didn’t inherit God from anybody!”
Second year: 31st December: “…we don’t have to say grace beforehand. It’s a relief not having to thank somebody for every mouthful you eat.” Saturday (after 25th August): Going fishing instead of going to church, unmarried people spending time alone together.
Third year: 9th November: A mention of evolution and another about wishing women could vote. 11th January: Thank heaven.
Fourth year: 3rd October: Mention of a married man who left his wife and eloped with someone. 14th December and 27th August: Mercy!
Age levels:
Reading Independently—Ages 12 – 15, 15 and Above, Adults
Links to buy this book:
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle | Hardcover | Audible Audiobook (unabridged) | Audio CD (unabridged)
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
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