ANGELA MADE TIM READ: "Daddy-Long-Legs," by Jean Webster

 

TIM SAYS:

Since Angela and I became a couple (not counting the approximately one year period in which we were apparently dating without my being aware of it), she has commanded that I read Jane Austin novels, Anne of Green Gables and the Little House on the Prairie books. I've enjoyed them all--which is just another example of why she is The Perfect Wife.

So when she next handed me a copy of the 1912 novel Daddy-Long-Legs, I figured I would enjoy it as well. And, in fact, I did enjoy it.

It's an epistolary novel, collecting the letters of 17-year-old Jerusha (Judy) Abbott, who had grown up in an orphanage, but now has acquired a mentor who is paying her way through college.

The mentor insists on remaining anonymous. He's a trustee of the orphanage, but Judy only caught a single, brief glimpse of him. Told to write him regularly (with no expectation of the letters ever being answered), she dubs him "Daddy-Long-Legs."

Judy is a fun character--someone who reminds me a lot of Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables. Her letters are fun, sometimes jumping from one topic to another and sometimes rambling on a bit, but always full of humor and emotions we can relate to. Judy slowly builds up her own image of Daddy-Long-Legs and a one-sided but still very real sense of a father-daughter relationship builds.

I thought the ending, which includes an important revelation and a change from a father-daughter story into a love story, was a bit abrupt and not completely satisfying. But overall, the novel was a lot of fun to read and, as I've said, yet another indication that Angela is indeed The Perfect Wife.

ANGELA SAYS:

I read Daddy Long Legs as a young adult and remember enjoying it. So when I saw it on my bookshelf a couple of weeks ago; I thought it would be a good one for this blog. And BONUS, there is a movie version we could review also.

I found the book mostly how I remembered it. The letters and drawings are more juvenile than I recalled (which makes sense, because I was much younger when I read it then). But the zingers included in this one sided conversation are still amusing as an adult. I can understand, and sympathize with, a young girl's response to some heavy handed tactics used by an absent guardian. And I can also see the growing jealousy on the part of that absent guardian.

 

I agree with Tim, that the ending was a bit abrupt. I don't agree that he should have kept his role secret forever, but there wasn't much of a transition from guardian to fiance. Perhaps another few letters easing us into the knowledge would have improved the book.

 

Addendum,

 I discovered there is a sequel to Daddy Long Legs about Judy's college roommate, Dear Enemy. It is also an epistolary style book, and I found it to be even funnier and more witty. I would highly recommend you read both.