Jerry Junior

Jean Webster, beloved for Daddy-Long-Legs, returns with another witty meditation on modern love. Jerry Jr. finds himself stranded in the picturesque Italian village of Valedolmo, awaiting his family's arrival with little to do but trade banter with the local head waiter and watch the slow days drift by. His boredom cracks open when he discovers an American family living nearby, and what begins as playful flirtation becomes something more probing: can a young man and woman truly meet as equals? Webster wrote this novel explicitly to explore that question, imagining relationships where both parties are full human beings rather than performances of gender. The comedy is light, the Italian village is charmingly rendered, and Jerry himself is a surprisingly modern hero: somewhat lost, occasionally foolish, but genuinely trying to understand another person rather than simply charm them. For readers who loved Webster's earlier work, this offers more of her warm, progressive vision: a romance that believes better relationships are possible.