Review: Daddy-Long-Legs (novel)

No, despite what you might think, this book has nothing to do with insects.

Daddy-Long-Legs is a 1912 novel by Jean Webster. It's been adapted into five or more films, two anime, a stage play, and at least two musicals. It has a sequel, Dear Enemy, which I haven't read yet.

The story revolves around Jerusha "Judy" Abbott, an orphan who is put through college by an anonymous benefactor she calls "Daddy-Long-Legs". With the exception of the first chapter, the entire book is composed of Judy's letters to Daddy-Long-Legs. She fills them with many remarks about her school and schoolmates, descriptions of her holidays, and occasional comic drawings. (My favourite is the one where she's serving tea to a centipede. It makes sense in context.)

For most of the book, the epistolary style works quite well. But when the final letter comes along, it suddenly doesn't work as well. It's very unlikely Judy would tell Jervis things he himself had said and done, and it becomes an obvious case of "recounting things for the benefit of the reader". It would really have been better if the book had switched back to the third person narration of the first chapter for the ending.

But that's really the only problem I have with it. The rest of the book is hilarious, and in some ways reminds me of Anne of Green Gables. I guessed who Daddy-Long-Legs really was when Jervis took Judy to see Hamlet, so I wasn't really surprised by the ending. Doesn't make it any less cute when Judy writes her first love letter, though 😊

Judy herself is a very Anne-ish character. (A kindred spirit, as Anne herself would say.) She's grown up in an orphanage, but she still has a sense of humour and an imagination -- though a less vivid one than Anne's. Daddy-Long-Legs decided to put her through college after reading an essay she wrote. He expects her to become an author once she has an education. Judy herself isn't always sure she wants to be one, something everyone who's tried to write a book can sympathise with. But by the end of the book, she's a published author, and the reader is free to imagine her having a distinguished writing career ahead of her 😄

If you like Anne of Green Gables, you'll probably love this book!

Is it available online?: Yes, on Gutenberg.

Rating: 10/10.