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Daddy-Long-Legs

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About this listen

Jerusha Abbott is the oldest orphan in the John Grier Home. Every day she helps scrub and dress the younger children - all 97 of them. Soon she will graduate from high school and be on her own. Where will she go, and how will she support herself? When an anonymous wealthy donor decides to send her to college, Jerusha can hardly believe her good fortune. All she must do in return is send him a letter once a month. With all the excitement of college life - classes, parties, new friends, and a special gentleman - Jerusha can hardly stop writing!

Jean Webster’s entertaining tale of a high-spirited orphan girl coming-of-age in the early 1900s has been made into a play, several movies, and a musical comedy. Kate Forbes’ fresh portrayal of Jerusha will win the hearts of a new generation of readers.

Public Domain (P)2000 Recorded Books Classics Feel-Good Heartfelt
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A lovely uplifting story told in a really imaginative way. An absolute delight to read.

Beautifully written

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A charming early 20th century story, whimsical, witty & original. It was beautifully narrated, very sympathetic to the tone of the text.

A really charming story

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I enjoyed the unusual style and humour very much. It was a joy to read.

Wonderful descriptive language.

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The letter writing format of this book gives the listener an immediate insight into the life of Judy and her experience of college in early
20th century America.

Charming and insightful

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Enlightening epistolary short novel that shines light on early 20th century women's education and expectations.

This was a random find on Audible, which I'd never heard of but was instantly interested in based on the premise. And it made for an entertaining and educational listen, well narrated by a young-sounding reader. I love finding works that showcase society in different periods and 1912 was pre-war, pre-women's vote, pre-Titanic, just at the end of an era.

Jerusha Abbott, named from gravestone inspiration by the staff at the John Grier Home (a girl's orphanage) is 17 and living a drab life of piety, study and thankfulness when she is told a trustee of the Home has singled her out as having potential, and wishes to pay her way through college. She must write to him every month about her studies, as she believes she will make a good writer, and expect to never learn his identity.

The reader thus starts the college journey with Judy, as she soon re-brands herself. Her social dealings, her education in the world and in her learning, her wonderfully bright and optimistic letters to her benefactor, whom she terms Daddy Long Legs (as all she knows about him is that he is tall) - they convey a long-gone world, but also a modern-feeling young woman determined to learn and grow and make a place for herself.

Having attended university myself, I loved hearing of the same experiences a century earlier, and the American broad curriculum. Judy's orphanage background is regularly referred to, and she finds it makes her stumble socially, but it also means she sees the new and wide world opening up before her as miraculous and incredible, and it did move this reader.

So much to learn from this, and curiosity about Judy's benefactor, is certainly there for her audience too, and not all questions are answered by the end of the book, even if the author does give us a conclusion.

Fascinating and a joy to read.

Enlightening epistolary short novel

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