Daddy-Long-Legs
Told entirely through letters, Daddy-Long-Legs follows Jerusha Abbott, an orphan at the John Grier Home, whose life changes when a wealthy trustee agrees to fund her college education, on one condition. She must write him monthly letters about her progress. Jerusha never sees his face, only his shadow in the orphanage hallway: all arms and legs, like a daddy-long-legs. So she addresses her letters to him by that name, and what begins as a formal obligation becomes something else entirely, a young woman finding her voice. She navigates new friendships, academic challenges, and her dream of becoming a writer, all while her imagination runs wild wondering about the mysterious man behind her freedom. The novel is sharp, self-aware, and surprisingly contemporary in its treatment of a woman's journey toward independence. It endures because at its heart it's about claiming the right to exist fully, as a thinker, a writer, as someone who matters. For readers who love epistolary novels, coming-of-age stories, or any book with a protagonist too brilliant to stay small.
Editions
X-Ray
“It isn't the big troubles in life that require character. Anybody can rise to a crisis and face a crushing tragedy with courage, but to meet the petty hazards of the day with a laugh - I really think that requires spirit.It's the kind of character that I am going to develop. I am going to pretend that all life is just a game which I must play as skillfully and fairly as I can. If I lose, I am going to shrug my shoulders and laugh - also if I win.””
— Jean Webster
“I think that the most necessary quality for any person to have is imagination. It makes people able to put themselves in other people's places. It makes them kind and sympathetic and understanding.””
— Jean Webster
“The world is full of happiness, and plenty to go round, if you are only willing to take the kind that comes your way. The whole secret is in being .””
— Jean Webster
“It isn't the great big pleasures that count the most; it's making a great deal out of the little ones--I've discovered the true secret of happiness, Daddy, and that is to live in the now. Not to be for ever regretting the past, or anticipating the future; but to get the most that you can out of this very instant.””
— Jean Webster
“I believe absolutely in my own free will and my own power to accomplish - and that is the belief that moves mountains. ””
— Jean Webster
“Is it snowing where you are? All the world that I see from my tower is draped in white and the flakes are coming down as big as pop-corns. It's late afternoon - the sun is just setting (a cold yellow colour) behind some colder violet hills, and I am up in my window seat using the last light to write to you.””
— Jean Webster
“He and I always think the same things are funny, and that is such a lot; it's dreadful when two people's senses of humor are antagonistic. I don't believe there's any bridging that gulf!And he is--Oh, well! He is just himself, and I miss him, and miss him, and miss him. The whole world seems empty and aching. I hate the moonlight because it's beautiful and he isn't here to seeit with me. But maybe you've loved somebody, too, and you know? If you have, I don't need to explain; if you haven't, I can't explain.””
— Jean Webster
“Dear Daddy-Long-Legs,You never answered my question and it was very important.ARE YOU BALD?””
— Jean Webster
“It's much more entertaining to live books than to write them.””
— Jean Webster
Link to this book
Add a free, dofollow link to Lex on your blog, forum, syllabus, or reading list.
<a href="https://lex-books.com/book/daddy-long-legs-b085249f-4a4b-4dda-8b45-5033fb3cf983"><img src="https://lex-books.com/badges/read-on-lex.svg" alt="Read Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster free on Lex" width="160" height="40"></a>[](https://lex-books.com/book/daddy-long-legs-b085249f-4a4b-4dda-8b45-5033fb3cf983)[url=https://lex-books.com/book/daddy-long-legs-b085249f-4a4b-4dda-8b45-5033fb3cf983][img]https://lex-books.com/badges/read-on-lex.svg[/img][/url]Read Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster free on Lex: https://lex-books.com/book/daddy-long-legs-b085249f-4a4b-4dda-8b45-5033fb3cf983Cite this book
Reading this edition for a paper or guide? Copy a citation.
Webster, Jean. Daddy-Long-Legs. Lex, lex-books.com/book/daddy-long-legs-b085249f-4a4b-4dda-8b45-5033fb3cf983.Webster, J. (n.d.). Daddy-Long-Legs. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/daddy-long-legs-b085249f-4a4b-4dda-8b45-5033fb3cf983Webster, Jean. Daddy-Long-Legs. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/daddy-long-legs-b085249f-4a4b-4dda-8b45-5033fb3cf983.
