[Gutenberg 157] • Daddy-Long-Legs

Daddy Long Legs is a classic that still amuses and inspires. An epistolary novel by the American writer Jean Webster. It follows the protagonist, a young girl named Jerusha -Judy- Abbott, through her college years. She writes the letters to her benefactor, a rich man whom she has never seen. Most people, writes Jerusha Abbot to Daddy-Long-Legs, run life as a race, at the end of which they are too tired to be happy. -I've decided to sit down by the way and pile up a lot of little happinesses.- Here is a charming novel of an orphan who, through pluck and good cheer, wins the patronage of an anonymous trustee of her orphanage she calls -Daddy Long Legs.- He sends the clever Jerusha to a girl's college, where she thrives. Her story is odyssey of laughter, love and learning. Here is one of the most empowering books of all time, a -girl's- book full of fun and whimsy, yet seriously enriching.