If you're a 90's kid you'll probably remember the anime, if you're a movie addict then you'll know Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron starred in 1955's movie: they all are based upon the 1912 novel by Jean Webster, Daddy Long Legs!
I really enjoyed this novel, it's highly recommended...read my review and thoughts to know why!
Jerusha Abbot lives in John Grier orphanage and has no idea who her parents are...Her last name was picked out from the phone book.
She hasn't been adopted so, when she finished her education, is obliged to work as caretaker in the orphanage itself, until one day a misterious benefactor offers to pay Judy's University tuition (the benefactor was fascinated by Judy's writing skills) with the only rule to write him every month and let him know about her progress in studies and life.
Judy attends an only girls college on the East Coast and has some troubles fitting in, mostly because all the other students are whealthy, so ends up hiding her humble past. Eventually the truth will be revealed, but Judy's friends, (Sallie McBride, Julia Rutledge Pendleton and Leonora Fenton) will understand and keep being on her side.
For the summer holidays Judy is sent (under Daddy Long Legs suggestion) to stay at Lock Willow's farm, in Connecticut, with Mr and Mrs Semple and there finds out an incredible coincidence: Julia's uncle, Jervis Pendleton, whom she previously met when he visited his nephew in college, once owned the farm stay with the Semples as well.
Judy attends an only girls college on the East Coast and has some troubles fitting in, mostly because all the other students are whealthy, so ends up hiding her humble past. Eventually the truth will be revealed, but Judy's friends, (Sallie McBride, Julia Rutledge Pendleton and Leonora Fenton) will understand and keep being on her side.
For the summer holidays Judy is sent (under Daddy Long Legs suggestion) to stay at Lock Willow's farm, in Connecticut, with Mr and Mrs Semple and there finds out an incredible coincidence: Julia's uncle, Jervis Pendleton, whom she previously met when he visited his nephew in college, once owned the farm stay with the Semples as well.
At first Judy is thankful for the oppurtunity Daddy Long Legs gave her that she follows all his requests, but growing up she starts to questioning why he doesn't want to meet her or even reply to her letters so she starts to disobey his request to spend the summer at Lock Willow instead that spending it with her friends. Eventually she'll go in Connecticut again and will spend a lot of time with Jervis Pendleton...
That was just the tip of the iceberg, because Daddy Long Legs forbids Judy to accept a scholarship or to spend the holidays with her friends and it's only when things are at a no turning point that he decides to reveal himself...
👍👎My Thoughts
The entire book is in an epistolary form, all from Judy's prospective, of course, and I think it was the best way to show how her character and personality change from the first to the last year of college. The novel is about 250 pages long, but the mistery behind Daddy Long Legs figure is so captivating and intriguing that I finished it in one day...
It could be used both as bedtime story or summer reading for teenager students, but is such a cute story that anyone would appreciate it.
My vote: 10/10
My review of the Korean manga based on Daddy Long Legs HERE
Photo credits: goodreads.com & fanpop.com
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