Daddy Long Legs - Book Review

When was the last time you ever sat down and wrote a letter to someone? I meant the paper and pen kind, not the widely used electronic media.

Read Daddy long legs - the title is misleading and has nothing to do with the particular species of spider found worldwide. It’s a lively story about Judy Abbott and her letters, a quaint love story with a lovely surprise ending.

Meet Jerusha “Judy” Abbott, 17 year old living in the John Grier Home for Orphans. She has done well at the local high school and one of the trustees of the orphanage offers to pay for her to go to college. For Judy, it is her first contact with anyone other than the orphanage and she is thrilled but her benefactor who sponsors her education insists on remaining anonymous. His only payment for funding her education is that she write a letter to him regularly to let him know of her progress. The letters are to be addressed as John Smith and will be sent care of the secretary. She is to expect absolutely no reply from him and the correspondence would be one-sided.

Rather tough, one would think, to write personal letters to someone you have absolutely no knowledge about.


An extract:

Dear Daddy-Long-Legs,

You only wanted to hear from me once a month, didn't you? And I've been peppering you with letters every few days! But I've been so excited about all these new adventures that I MUST talk to somebody; and you're the only one I know. Please excuse my exuberance; I’ll settle pretty soon. If my letters bore you, you can always toss them in the wastebasket. I promise not to write till the middle of November.

Yours most loquaciously,
Judy Abbott.

Thus begins a series of correspondence from young Judy who is rarely at a loss for words. Her letters are a delight to read, right from the way she addresses Mr. John Smith to the way she signs off in each letter. Over the years, the letters continue while Judy deals with her lessons and exams, college life and trips, and makes new friends. She meets a lot of exciting people one Mr. Jervis Pendleton and Jimmy Mcbride, both relatives of her roommates who find Judy’s company thoroughly enjoyable.

In an age where letter writing is a long forgotten art, one could get swept away with the language and style of writing but more so by Judy’s personality which reminds me of a rainbow – a colorful set of emotions. She can be funny, strange, sweet, charming all at once.


Then Judy falls in love.

I’ll leave it up to you to read the book to find out with whom. The build up right up to the end of the book, however, can hardly stop you from reading the last page first to find out who she falls in love with. The book is a reader’s delight and an inspiration for all would be writers.