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Daddy-Long-Legs

(Daddy-Long-Legs #1)

Jean Webster

4.14 · Rating details · 43,027 ratings · 5,092 reviews

When Jerusha Abbott, an eighteen-year-old girl living in an orphan asylum, was told that a mysterious millionaire had agreed to pay for her education, it was like a dream come true. For the first time in her life, she had someone she could pretend was "family." But everything was not perfect, for he chose to remain anonymous and asked that she only write him concerning her ...more

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Hardcover, illustrations by the author, 249 pages

Published 1912 by Hodder & Stoughton

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Jan 30, 2008 Christy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I highly recommend that men DON'T read this, and I highly recommend that women - particularly girls who enjoy Little Women, Jane Eyre, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, etc. (basically old-fashioned chick flick books with substance) - DO read this. It's sweet and funny and different, not hard to get through in a day or two, and leaves you with a good feeling.

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Jun 16, 2014 Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ rated it really liked it

Shelves: comfort-read, historical-fiction, gutenberg-freebie, oldies-but-goodies, humor

Daddy-Long-Legs is a delightful short novel written in 1912. Basically it's along the lines of "Anne Shirley goes to a girls' college." It's mostly epistolary, told in the form of letters written by the main character where she talks (and jokes) about her daily life.

At the beginning of our story, Jerusha is a 17 year old oppressed but imaginative girl who lives and works in an orphanage, where she's grown up. She's unexpectedly given the chance to go to college when one of the orphanage trustees Daddy-Long-Legs is a delightful short novel written in 1912. Basically it's along the lines of "Anne Shirley goes to a girls' college." It's mostly epistolary, told in the form of letters written by the main character where she talks (and jokes) about her daily life.

At the beginning of our story, Jerusha is a 17 year old oppressed but imaginative girl who lives and works in an orphanage, where she's grown up. She's unexpectedly given the chance to go to college when one of the orphanage trustees reads a humorous English essay that she wrote and offers to pay her way. He insists on remaining anonymous to her, but wants her to write him monthly letters telling him of her progress. This novel consists of the letters Jerusha (who quickly dumps her unliked name at college and tells people to call her "Judy") writes over the next four years to her benefactor.

It's fun to get a glimpse of life at an all-girls college 100 years ago. A sample from one of Judy's letters:

Dear Daddy-Long-Legs,

I hope you aren't the Trustee who sat on the toad? It went off--I was told--with quite a pop, so probably it was a fatter Trustee.

. . . Every spring when the hoptoad season opened we would form a collection of toads and keep them in [window wells by the orphanage's laundry room]; and occasionally they would spill over into the laundry, causing a very pleasurable commotion on wash days. We were severely punished for our activities in this direction, but in spite of all discouragement the toads would collect.

. . . I don't know why I am in such a reminiscent mood except that spring and the reappearance of toads always awakens the old acquisitive instinct. The only thing that keeps me from starting a collection is the fact that there's no rule against it.

Judy/Jerusha is a likeable main character with a lively sense of humor and an independent streak. In many ways the book is dated, understandably, but at the same time there are some unexpectedly progressive views. Given the times, it's not too surprising that Judy also makes some positive comments about socialism, as well as a few snarky comments about religion.

But overall this is a gentle, humorous coming-of-age story with just a bit of romance. Minus one star for the overly pat and somewhat disturbing ending -- I didn't care for the way the author glossed over some major personal trust issues (view spoiler)

I'd recommend Daddy-Long-Legs to those who enjoyed Anne of Green Gables and who like light, old-fashioned historical fiction. You can read a copy free online or download it here at Project Gutenberg. ...more

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Jul 02, 2010 Jasmin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: humor, romance, historical-fiction, reviewed-by-me, historical-romance, classic, fiction, five-stars, inspirational, children

WARNING! To follow is a highly illustrative review/plot summary of the book Daddy-Long-Legs.

As a kid, I totally loved the cartoon Judy. I actually miss it sometimes, but then thanks to Goodreads, I discovered that it all started with a book.

Jerusha Abbott is an orphan at the John Grier Homes. She always gets into trouble and has been overstaying for two years. She works her stay by taking care of the younger ones. She's actually scared that they might turn her out, but one day, Miss Lippet calls ...more

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Jan 01, 2017 Rinda Elwakil rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, تشبهني, pdf_ebub_tablet

Joudy abott my old friend.

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Apr 17, 2014 Deborah Markus rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classic

You should read this review if:

1. You haven’t read this book and need to know why you should,

or

2. You’ve read this book, but need to know about the connection between Daddy-Long-Legs and J.D. Salinger.

(Okay, or: 3. Regardless of whether or not you’ve read this book, you now think I’ve been smoking something I shouldn’t have been. Please read this review so I can convince you otherwise. Thank you.)

There is something to be said for not having read the classics as a kid – provided, of course, you s ...more

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Jun 20, 2011 Mariel rated it liked it

Recommends it for: it's easy when you're big in Iran

Recommended to Mariel by: whorephans

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. It's probably one of those sad things about me that I take rootless interest in people I don't know and do a whole lot of aimless wondering. It feels creepy on bad days. Daddy Long Legs is weird for me 'cause it felt both not creepy and totally creepy. It must have been delicious for "Daddy" to get letters from someone who didn't know who she was writing to, be privy to hopes and desires and not have to figure his own out. (Too bad the sense that he knew them too well was creepy.) He had eight l ...more

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Jun 29, 2020 Rebecca McNutt rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, classic, romance, fiction, orphan, mystery

This book's title initially sounded creepy to me (I live in a basement full of daddy long-legs spiders), but this is actually a really fun, creative little book that, while somewhat implausible, still holds up very well. This is particularly due to its protagonist, whose personality spills out on almost every page. This book is one of many from a bygone time where orphaned protagonists get a new chance at life, but Daddy-Long-Legs also features a mysterious man whose actions of unexplained kindn ...more

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Aug 22, 2012 Flannery rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Flannery by: Maggie

Shelves: read-in-2012, read-on-kindle, lolz, young-adult-teen, classics, wishlist-for-dtbs-to-keep

I found Daddy-Long-Legs courtesy of the lovely ladies over at Young Adult Anonymous and then devoured it in one sitting. (it is free for Kindle, though devoid of illustrations) Published in 1912, it is a series of letters from the fictional Jerusha (Judy) Abbott to the mysterious benefactor who plucks her from an orphanage and pays for her college. The conditions of receiving the monetary support are that he will remain anonymous (as such, Judy calls him many things but most often Daddy-Long-Leg ...more

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Sep 03, 2016 Werner rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Fans of early 20th-century general fiction

Recommended to Werner by: It was a common read in one of my groups

Shelves: classics, general-fiction

Note, Sept. 12, 2016: I edited this review just now to correct the misspelling of tonsillitis.

Before this book was nominated as a common read in my Vintage Tales group, I'd never even heard of it, or of Jean Webster (1876-1916). Going into it, my expectations weren't particularly high. As it turned out, though, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the reading experience!

Though not well-known today, Webster wrote roughly a score of books in her short lifetime (she died on the cusp of Note, Sept. 12, 2016: I edited this review just now to correct the misspelling of tonsillitis.

Before this book was nominated as a common read in my Vintage Tales group, I'd never even heard of it, or of Jean Webster (1876-1916). Going into it, my expectations weren't particularly high. As it turned out, though, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the reading experience!

Though not well-known today, Webster wrote roughly a score of books in her short lifetime (she died on the cusp of 40). From this book, it's clear that she belongs to the Realist tradition --though, unlike the regionalist Realists of that day, she doesn't (at least here) go in for a sense of place or regional dialect; the geographic location of the orphanage where foundling Jerusha "Judy" Abbott grows up, and of the women's college she eventually attends, are left indeterminate. The premise here, in some ways (though not others), is similar to a distaff version of Great Expectations: a disadvantaged adolescent is befriended and raised in station by an anonymous benefactor, whose deliberately concealed identity creates an element of mystery; she knows only that he's a trustee of the orphanage. (The book title comes from his tall frame and long limbs which, on the one occasion at the beginning of the book where she caught a passing glimpse of his back, made his shadow resemble a daddy-long-legs.) Unlike Pip's benefactor, however, Judy's (influenced by reports from her teachers that she's intelligent and has writing talent) puts most of his benevolence into educating her rather than showering her with spending money, though she gets a decent amount of the latter.

Most of the book is written in the epistolary style, consisting of letters written by Judy to the eponymous "Daddy-Long-Legs," as directed by the terms of her arrangement with him --which also stipulate that he won't reply to her, so it's a one-sided correspondence. Epistolary novels fell out of favor later in the 20th-century, and may have an unfamiliar feel to a generation that seldom writes paper letters. But even for modern readers, the style and diction is lively and humorous, the subjects wide-ranging and interesting; it's both a fascinating window into early 20th-century college and social life, seen through the eyes of a keen observer who's used to being an outsider, and a vehicle for social criticism and theological/philosophical reflection --one suspects that Judy's views mirror Webster's. But it's also a wonderful character study of a thoroughly likable, infectiously enthusiastic girl who's apt to steal your heart. (Yes, she has her moments in the dumps, too, and times when she can be tactless; that just means she's human like the rest of us.) She IS a college girl, though, learning a college girl's vocabulary, so there are occasional big words here. If one or two are unfamiliar to a reader, it's just a chance to build ones' own vocabulary!

Naturally, being a different person than Judy is, I didn't agree with all of her opinions. My religious attitudes are different from her essentially secular ones (though I'm no more enamored of the grim, handed-down Puritanism of rural New England than she is!); and while I approve of her feminism, her Fabian Socialism hasn't worn well over the ensuing century, which saw the horrors of the Socialist experiment of European and Asiatic Communism, and the melt-down of the former. But her attitudes are realistic for a young person of her background, being college-educated in the height of the Progressive era; and in many of the ways that she looks at life, I can recognize that she's wise and perceptive. Many readers will tumble onto a particular plot point much sooner than Judy does (I did, for instance, --but no spoiler here!). But I don't see this as a defect; it imparts an added element of fun to the book if we're in on something Judy doesn't know. Since the usual treatment for tonsillitis is amputation, it's hard to picture her having it twice; and it's also hard to imagine a high school graduate not knowing that Shelley was a poet, or that Henry VIII was married more than once. But these are minor quibbles.

My main problem with the book (which cost it the fifth star) is the fact that for me, Judy's benefactor came across as a bit too distant, with his policy of strict secrecy about his identity and refusal to answer her letters, and too bossy and controlling at several junctures. (He communicates his wishes through his secretary.) To her credit, though, she defies his bossiness on a couple of points, and makes her own decision! The whole situation, of course, becomes more complicated than it starts out; and if our title character had handled the arrangement more sensibly, the book wouldn't have the same distinctive feel and flavor. But to me, it was still a bit off-putting. That didn't keep me from really liking the book!

Webster wrote a sequel to this novel, Dear Enemy. At this point, I wouldn't seek it out as such --I'm trying not to get sucked into more commitments to series and sequels right now. But if I ran across a copy of it, I'd give it a read! ...more

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Mar 06, 2017 Sara Dahabović rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: for women and girls who like old style chick-lit books

Shelves: ebooks, omiljene-knjige

Relived one of my favorite childhood cartoons with this one, it was such a light and good read, exactly what you need when the exams are around the corner and you need something funny to lift your mood. I would recommend this for women and girls who like chick-lit books. *and did I mention that it was written in 1912!* Thank you Jean Webster for writing a timeless piece!

As for the characters I loved each and every one;
Judy Abbott
A super cheerful orphan girl who got a scholarship to continue her ...more

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Nov 27, 2013 Dorcas rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: cozy

I always have a difficult time rating YA books. Do I rate them as I enjoy them now, or as I would have enjoyed them had I read it as a young adult? It's tricky.

As a young adult I would probably rate this as a five star read. As a forty something adult, I enjoyed it, but I wasn't like all over it. I'd say 3.5 Stars. The author kept me reading, and I thought it was very sweet but I probably wouldn't reach for it to re-read anytime soon. And I'm not sooo invested in the characters that I have to ru ...more

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Sep 16, 2007 Wendy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I've been reading comments here and there about how this book is not that good and the central relationship is creepy and it is anti-feminist. THIS IS SO NOT TRUE.

(Well, of course if you think it's not that good, that's your prerogative; I won't go that far; but I don't understand, either.)

This book is amazing. Judy is so completely accessible, and her roommates and college friends are so funny. It's a joy to read about someone who is just so excited to do EVERYTHING, but not, of course, in a ph I've been reading comments here and there about how this book is not that good and the central relationship is creepy and it is anti-feminist. THIS IS SO NOT TRUE.

(Well, of course if you think it's not that good, that's your prerogative; I won't go that far; but I don't understand, either.)

This book is amazing. Judy is so completely accessible, and her roommates and college friends are so funny. It's a joy to read about someone who is just so excited to do EVERYTHING, but not, of course, in a phony way. But she isn't happy all the time, and she isn't fake; she has days of deep depression, as you might expect from someone with her upbringing. I loved it every time I read it when I was a kid, but then when I went to college and reread it, I appreciated it even more; because lots of what Judy experienced, I identified with, though on a different level--my educational background was also different from most of my classmates, I also felt like I had to watch what I said about pre-college life because I quickly found that people didn't get it, and I also wasn't used to having my own money to spend (my own fault, because I never worked in high school).

The relationship between Jervis and Judy (this is why it's under a spoiler; I've been annoyed by people spoiling this to people who haven't read it, too) could seem creepy if one only looked at it on a shallow level, and with 21st century eyes. For one thing, he wasn't THAT old. It doesn't seem like an age difference that would have been creepy at the time, and I actually have met a few couples with similar age differences today. For another, she got to know him on normal terms; it wasn't like he was grooming her or anything--it wasn't GIGI. Or PRETTY WOMAN. Or whatever.

Finally, it is so not anti-feminist. I guess it bothers some people that she gets married right out of college and never "does" anything with her education, and that Jervis tells her what to do. Yes, it was totally wrong for Jervis to tell her where she was allowed to go on her summer vacations, and Judy KNOWS IT. She calls him on it, thoroughly. He learns his lesson. And one can only assume that after they're married, they continue with all the philanthropy (that refurbishing of the John Grier Home in the second book wasn't cheap).

Also--many of you know that this is pretty much my highest praise for a book--it's FUNNY.

(Now, DEAR ENEMY is absolutely racist and classist and generally offensive, besides not being as well written and only sometimes as funny. The odd thing is, I've had difficulty convincing people of it.)

(Oh, and also: PLEASE, can someone explain to me why so many people from Iran have read Jean Webster's books?) ...more

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Jan 13, 2019 Tina ➹ the girl who lives in Fandoms (Book.Enchantress) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: favorite, 2019, cover, all-time-fav, nostalgia, reviews, under-24hrs, fav-hero, golden-stars, i-recommend

4.5 Golden Stars

this was my first Classic
it was beautiful.
I cried during the last letter, even though I knew the ending all along.
the ending was beautiful.
every moments was beautiful!
I loved it.

World: ★★★★★/5
Characters: ★★★★★/5
Plot: ★★★★★/5
Writing: ★★★★/5
Idea: ★★★★/5

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Jan 25, 2014 Beth rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, 2014, audiobook, favorites-2014, kindle-read

I had a nice review all written out, then like a dunce I clicked the little "x" in the corner!! Who does that??

Anyway, I'm not sure if I can completely capture my thoughts again, but I'll try!

You know how sometimes, you're not tired of reading (because who could ever get tired of reading???), but yet you can't focus well and just want something engaging and mostly happy? Well, that was me when I started to listen to the audio version of Daddy Long Legs. I had wanted to read DLL ever since I read I had a nice review all written out, then like a dunce I clicked the little "x" in the corner!! Who does that??

Anyway, I'm not sure if I can completely capture my thoughts again, but I'll try!

You know how sometimes, you're not tired of reading (because who could ever get tired of reading???), but yet you can't focus well and just want something engaging and mostly happy? Well, that was me when I started to listen to the audio version of Daddy Long Legs. I had wanted to read DLL ever since I read a retelling of this story, Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay, and it seemed like the perfect refresher. I'm so happy that I chose to listen to it, because the audio version was absolutely delightful.

I loved getting to know Jerusha, or Judy, as she comes to call herself. Although she worked in the orphanage that she grew up in, when an anonymous benefactor pays her way to college, she grabs onto to this new development with zeal. The only catch is that she has to write this benefactor letters of her progress each month, expecting no reply.

I enjoyed being a part of her new adventures and also as she grows and develops as a person. She has quite modern and forward ideas for the time period, and while I thought at times that the author's personal beliefs were a bit too apparent (and I didn't always agree), for the most part, I really liked Judy's spunk and sparkle.

I think my only disappointment was the ending. At the "big reveal" (of which I won't say more so as not to ruin anything), Judy reacted like the typical young woman would, and I just didn't find it in keeping with her character. Thankfully, Katherine Reay handles it a bit more realistically in her retelling, which might have been part of the reason that I was a bit disappointed with how it was handled in the original story.

Overall, however, I'm so glad I finally took the time to read, ahem, listen, to Daddy Long Legs, and, in fact, am a bit peeved at myself for not getting to it sooner! Judy is refreshing and bright, and it was a pleasure to meet her! ...more

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Aug 20, 2016 Shima Mahmoudi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I can relate to Judy in many ways I can not believe. Most of the times it seemed as if I were the one writing the letters. I love this book. This is not the first time I have read this book and will definitely not be the last.

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Jul 16, 2017 Hannah rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017-challenge, edwardian-era, new-authors-2017, classics-2017, oldies-2017, owned-books, tbr-2017-dragon-tbr

Mixed feelings on this one. A dear little story, but with some major flaws in worldview. I think what bothered me most was that the message seemed to be that she, a young woman, could take on the entire world, and yet her sponsor orders her around like a dictator. She bucks his orders once and he snubs her for months. And yet she's okay with that.

It also is eager to make of her a Socialist/Fabian, and to make the point of how nasty rich people are (though for some reason the poor people she gre ...more

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Dec 23, 2016 Emer (A Little Haze) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: children and those who are children at heart

Recommended to Emer (A Little Haze) by: My Mum

Shelves: challenge-atoz2017, read2016, challenge-christmas2016, children-mid-grade, 5stars

Seemed an appropriate evening to indulge in a little childhood nostalgia. Loved this book as a little girl and it still appealed to me all these years later.... Perhaps influenced by the knowledge that this is my mum's favourite childhood book and perhaps influenced by this sentimental time of year... But no matter, this is still utterly charming and a book that I would happily recommend to any young girl today.

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Feb 23, 2019 Amy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I loved this novel! I'm a sucker for epistolary novels (books told through letters, diaries, etc) and this one is particularly lovely. It's wonderfully old-fashioned--the book was written in 1912--and although it's fiction, it's still an interesting glimpse into a young girl's mindset at that time. I think I enjoyed the sequel, Dear Enemy, even more. ...more

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Nov 15, 2014 Bettie rated it liked it

Shelves: tbr-busting-2015, published-1912, spring-2015, young-adult, orphans, coming-of-age

F Narrated by Julia Whelan

Description: Jerusha Abbott grew up in an orphanage but was sent to college by a mysterious benefactor she calls Daddy-Long-Legs. In college she falls in love with a young man who wants to marry her, but she refuses because she is an orphan. Finally, after Jerusha--now Judy--graduates, she asks to meet her benefactor.

There is a film with Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron to watch when I'm done with this audio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04M9M... ...more

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Aug 15, 2012 Maggie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Maggie by: Noelle

Shelves: 2012, i-ve-just-read-you-and-i-love-you

This is a book that Noelle has been trying to get me to read forever. This is what she emailed me a year ago after I was like, WTF is a Daddy Long Legs?

Daddy Long Legs is written way back in the day by Mark Twain's niece. It's kinda a little Anne Shirley mixed with Jo March. It's all in letter format but the protagonist is so charming. She's an orphan (guess I should put Jane Eyre in there too!) and then one of the orphanage's benefactors decides to send her to college anonymously so she writes

This is a book that Noelle has been trying to get me to read forever. This is what she emailed me a year ago after I was like, WTF is a Daddy Long Legs?

Daddy Long Legs is written way back in the day by Mark Twain's niece. It's kinda a little Anne Shirley mixed with Jo March. It's all in letter format but the protagonist is so charming. She's an orphan (guess I should put Jane Eyre in there too!) and then one of the orphanage's benefactors decides to send her to college anonymously so she writes him letters about her experiences there. She only saw his shadow on the wall so she calls him Daddy Long Legs b/c he seemed really tall.

I wrote back:

That's so funny because in the Korean drama I was watching, the lead girl starts getting letters from someone anonymously after her parents die and she just calls him "Daddy Long Legs." They're just friendly letters that offer support. I wonder if it was a reference to the book.

And this time, it wasn't me just using any excuse to bring up a kdrama. It totally was a reference to Daddy Long Legs! Korean dramas, where literary references happen. Also where this happens:

But I digress. I loved Daddy Long Legs! Judy is such an impertinent, feisty little badass. She's not embittered or hardened by her upbringing, but she's not overly solicitous either, which I really liked. Of course she's grateful for the opportunity to go to college, but in her mind, it's a loan that she's going to repay so she doesn't feel subservient to her mysterious benefactor. I know I would be tripping over my words and calling him "Sir" but Judy's all "Hey Daddy. What's up?" ...or as close to that as the 1900s allowed. I love that she is smart and straightforward, but thank God she fails a class or two or else I would've hated her perfect ass, amirite?

Even though this book is older (published in 1912) and obviously dated, I think there's definitely an audience for it now. I wonder if Jaclyn Moriarty was influenced at all by this book when she wrote Feeling Sorry for Celia and The Year of Secret Assignments (both of which you must read). I can totally see how this book influenced Little Noelle, and I'm definitely putting it in my niece's hands. I can just see her asking her dad the Very Important Question, ARE YOU BALD? (Sorry, Joel!) This is also a book I would give to high school students. I love Judy's approach to life and how she embraces her college experience. She's so self-motivated, and that helps her deal with rejection as well. If Rory Gilmore had read Daddy Long Legs instead of Mencken Chrestomathy, she wouldn't have dropped out of Yale after one bad encounter with Mitchum Huntzberger.

Rating: 4/5 stars.

This review appears as part of the Back to the Future series on Young Adult Anonymous. ...more

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Jun 08, 2019 anud-be rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ya, romance, classics, humor, historical, children, favorites

A favourite ♥

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Jun 29, 2017 Luisa Knight rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, young-adult, classics, romance

Okay Ladies, this one's for you!

This book had me at about the eleventh word and I was in love with it around page thirteen! The main character is a hoot; she's hilarious, spunky and just plain likable!

Jerusha Abbott, and sadly yes, that's the name she received at the asylum, is an orphan who discovers at age 18 that a mysterious and anonymous benefactor wishes to pay her way through college. The condition: she must write a letter once a month to this unknown person which she nicknames "Daddy-Lon ...more

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Dec 21, 2013 Emmy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: age-difference, classics, epistolary, 20th-century, young-adult

How had I never come across this book before!? This was a wonderful, fun read. I wish I had read this as a young adult as I think I would have enjoyed it even more.

The book is told from the POV of Jerusha Abbott, a seventeen year old orphan who, up until this point, has lived her entire life at the John Grier Home for orphans. In the opening, a narrator informs us that an unnamed trustee of the orphanage has offered to send Jerusha to college on the conditions that she doesn't know who he is a How had I never come across this book before!? This was a wonderful, fun read. I wish I had read this as a young adult as I think I would have enjoyed it even more.

The book is told from the POV of Jerusha Abbott, a seventeen year old orphan who, up until this point, has lived her entire life at the John Grier Home for orphans. In the opening, a narrator informs us that an unnamed trustee of the orphanage has offered to send Jerusha to college on the conditions that she doesn't know who he is and she writes him a letter every month (but he will never write her back).

The rest of the book is written in epistolary form as Jerusha fulfills her side of the agreement and writes to her unknown benefactor. She calls him Daddy Long Legs based on the one time she saw his elongated shadow.

Jerusha's voice is fresh, fun and light, making it entertaining as she relates even the mundane aspects of her life. One day her letter would include questions that she knows he'll never answer, another day the letter would be written in a 17th century style of speaking she's learning in class. The style of writing would frequently change reflecting Jerusha's different moods on any given day, giving her character a new complexity, as well as keeping the story new and interesting. My only complaint is that she almost sounded a little too young. Her familiar and joking tone sometimes sounded more like a thirteen or fourteen year old rather than seventeen. The book covers her entire college experience so by the end she is twenty-one/two and has started to sound a little older, but that is also probably partly due to the more mature topics she started writing about.

Regardless, I was surprised by how entertained and engaged I was in the story when nothing really exciting even happened. There were no twists and turns in the story, just one girl enjoying her college experience and growing as a person. It's definitely a credit to the writing in that respect. I even guessed who the unknown benefactor was about half way through and still enjoyed the entire ride. I would have wished for a little more information at the end from said benefactor, like his motives for putting Jerusha through school, but the the last letter is from Jerusha after she finds out and it was somewhat light on the details.

Still, an incredibly well done, enjoyable book. It's nice to read a book one in a while for it's superior writing rather than a completely plot driven story. I plan to follow up with the sequel which focuses on Jerusha's friend Sallie. ...more

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Feb 10, 2011 Victoria Evangelina Allen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, in-english

~MY FIRST BOOK IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE~

This is the first book I read in English; I was about 15-16 years old at the time. I studied the language with my beloved teacher, Galina Vasilievna, in Tashkent (Uzbekistan). I had 2-3 private classes a week, and she would usually give me an obscene amount of home work - well, thanks for that! After some time spent with study books, I came to a point when she suggested 'additional reading' and gave me this book. I was supposed to prepare a couple of pages of r
~MY FIRST BOOK IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE~

This is the first book I read in English; I was about 15-16 years old at the time. I studied the language with my beloved teacher, Galina Vasilievna, in Tashkent (Uzbekistan). I had 2-3 private classes a week, and she would usually give me an obscene amount of home work - well, thanks for that! After some time spent with study books, I came to a point when she suggested 'additional reading' and gave me this book. I was supposed to prepare a couple of pages of reading once a week. By 'prepare' I mean exactly what it sounds like - PREPARE. Translate every word - understand it in context. Write it down. Translate, write down the definition and construct in writing 5 sentences with the phrases underlined by my teacher. Usually those were expressions, like "dragged itself to a close" - Gosh, I still remember it!

Well, I have to say that I have never finished the book in the way Galina Vasilievna wanted me to. In about half a year I just wanted to know "what's next?!!" and flipped through the many remaining pages in one evening, grasping the meaning despite the still words I did not know. Proud, I said to the teacher "I can tell you the story!" "It is not reading, my dear! I need you to learn the expressions!" she replied as calmly, as usually.

Many books have passed through my hands and mind, shaping my soul and life path since then. Most of them have been in English language. I studied for my Master's degree reading and writing everything in English. For several years I used to write a weekly column in English for a newspaper. For about four years [at the time of this review] 85% of my communications are in English. I am thrilled with the Gift to read English authors in their own language. And the door to all of this is my dear old teacher and the story of Daddy-Long-Legs and little Jerusha, writing him letters and falling in love...

As for the book itself: it was cute. I may read it once again, just to have a complete picture, non-fragmented with my initial page-a-week jumps...

Victoria Evangelina Belyavskaya ...more

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Sep 05, 2010 Amy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, re-read-in-2019, old-fashion, classics, books-i-have-re-read-time-and-time, re-read-in-2018

2019 Review
It could never be written today. Not to commit the cardinal sin and reference the m-o-v-i-e but I was re-watching the Fred Astaire version of of Daddy Long Legs, which I hated the first time I saw, and I realized that even for 1955 this was a hard plot to swallow. That's why they tweaked it the way they did and address the elephant in the room: you've got quite the age and power gap between the main couple.
But by golly I still love this book. And the movie isn't too bad either if you ...more

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Jun 09, 2007 Zen Cho rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: oldschool, comfortreading, kidslit

Man, I love this book. It was my first introduction to epistolary fiction, and it's just so adorable. Now the fact that she called her romantic interest Daddy throughout the entire book wigs me a bit, and Jervis is so high-handed and lacking in candour that I'm deeply suspicious of him, but I'm gonna put down Judy's trilling that he's right most of the time because he's years older than her to the mushy-brainedness of the first flush of love, and believe that she's going to be able to handle him ...more

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Jun 19, 2013 Versha rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2013, reviewed

Aww, I simply fell in LOVE with this book!! And this is straightaway going to my ‘MOST FAVORITE’ Shelf without a doubt!! I am so glad that I found such a charming book without overlooking it! I kinda love epistolary novels, which was one of the reasons I picked up this book. It’s a story of a 17-year-old orphan Jerusha or Judy (as she wants to be called!!) who is sent to college for her higher studies by anonymous trusty funding for her education and in return, he only expects a letter from her, ...more

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Jan 19, 2020 Ririn Aziz rated it really liked it

Shelves: cabaran-2020, classic, clean-read

I was quite disappointed with how this ends *sigh*

You see, I did watch the animation series from years ago (and I was still a little girl at the time). Just stumbled upon the series halfway, so I didn't know the entire story. But I know that Judy was an orphan, Daddy Long Legs was her benefactor and Uncle Jervis was her love interest.

At the time, I was so excited when it was revealed that Daddy Long Legs and Uncle Jervis was one and the same. It was sooo romantic. And it stayed that way in my he ...more

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Mar 13, 2020 Rachel rated it it was amazing

This is such a perfectly chummy book! It was so delightful to reread it, a perfect pick-me-up in the midst of a fairly hectic month.

This is one of those books where I chuckle out loud while reading it. (And then my family demands to know what's so funny and interrupt my reading, but oh well.) Judy Abbott's fish-out-of-water perspective on college, the lives of the rich girls around her, and knowledge are purely delightful. There's also a bit of a love story, not a sappy or sugary one, that I qu ...more

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Aug 28, 2014 Dana Al-Basha دانة الباشا rated it it was amazing

Shelves: own, favorites

When I was so young, around 6, my brother and I would wake up early to watch an anime series called "يا صاحب الظل الطويل" aka "The Man with the Long Shadow" aka "Daddy Long Legs".

Little did I know by then, that the story would stay with me till this very day; I guess what we get attached to while young does stick in our minds and hearts, and as always a well written story is always a classic.

It helps also that I'm always attracted to protagonist who are writers, like Judy Abbott, Anne Shirley an ...more

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Goodreads Librari...: English version showing as translation	4	30	Jun 17, 2018 03:10PM
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About Jean Webster

Jean Webster

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Jean Webster (pseudonym for Alice Jane Chandler Webster) was an American writer and author of many books including Daddy-Long-Legs and Dear Enemy. Her most well-known books feature lively and likeable young female protagonists who come of age intellectually, morally, and socially, but with enough humor, snappy dialogue, and gently biting social commentary to make her books palatable and enjoyable ...more

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Quotes from Daddy-Long-Legs

“It isn't the big troubles in life that require character. Anybody can rise to a crisis and face a crushing tragedy with courage, but to meet the petty hazards of the day with a laugh - I really think that requires spirit.
It's the kind of character that I am going to develop. I am going to pretend that all life is just a game which I must play as skillfully and fairly as I can. If I lose, I am going to shrug my shoulders and laugh - also if I win.” — 294 likes

“I think that the most necessary quality for any person to have is imagination. It makes people able to put themselves in other people's places. It makes them kind and sympathetic and understanding.” — 141 likes

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