Daddy-Long-Legs and Dear Enemy by Jean Webster (Halcyon Classics)

I was intrigued to read “Daddy Long Legs” as this story is going to be remade into a Musical. (Original musical was in 1955). This copy was 2 books in one, which was an added bonus.If you are a fan of the genre of books such as “Anne of Green Gables” or “Pollyanna”, it’s a must to read!Set in the early 1900’s, the stories unravel entirely through a series of letters from the writer. We follow, Jerusha "Judy" Abbott, as she leaves an orphanage and is sent to college by a benefactor whom she has never seen.In “Dear Enemy” 1915, we follow the trials and tribulations of Sallie McBride, Judy Abbott's classmate and best friend in Daddy-Long-Legs, who has taken on the task of filling in as ‘superintendent’ of the orphanage until a new one can be found.There is lots of humour, naivety, intrigues anda satisfactory ending to each of the plots.I would definitely recommend reading them.

I first read this nearly 70 years ago - an old tattered copy of my mother's. The movie with Fred Astaire was a travesty, but the story has always stayed in my heart I suppose! Re-reading it, and reading the sequel for the first time, was a lovely experience, even without the little drawings I remember from that first book. I would certainly recommend it - with the proviso that younger readers take note of its publication date!

Two linked books both written as epistolary tales through the letters of the principal character. The first is Judy, an orphan, who writes to the wealthy benefactor who is paying for her college education. The second is Sally, a friend of Judy's from college, whom Judy persuades to take over as warden of the aforesaid orphanage. Written 100 years ago, they are classics which deserve to be kept in modern reading lists.

I had never read these titles because I thought letters would be uninteresting. But they are gripping. You would expect to be able to put the book down between letters, but they follow such a well constructed storyline that it is impossible. In fact, I have read both books in three evenings (albeit jolly long ones), I am now sleep deprived but sated.

Daddy-Long-Legs has long been a great favorite of mine but I had never found Dear Enemy before. Although it doesn't have quite the same naive charm of DLL it is nevertheless a good read albeit with predictable ending. Very much of it's time you have to remember that social attitudes were different in those days and get past some now politically incorrect notions.