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Almost every movie made today was based on a book first. I didn’t quite realize this was the same for old Hollywood movies as well until I came across the book Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster (1912). I saw the 1950s movie starring Fred Astaire and Leslie Carron a few years back and enjoyed it. The movie was a little problematic to my modern sensibilities, but still a lovely film and I have loved every movie I have seen with Fred Astaire and Leslie Carron. I was happy to discover that it isn’t as problematic in the book as it is in the film.
As I began to read the story, I noticed that the movie also had some big changes in it, like the fact that Judy’s character was from France in the movie, but was actually from the North East in the United States in the book. Jervais is also much younger in the book than Fred Astaire was in the film, but I digress. The age difference is not as bad and although there is still a power imbalance between the characters in the beginning, the full story makes up for it. In case you have not picked up on it yet, this is eventually a romance. I had to order the book and read it for myself. If you have seen the film, you will know that it is a story about an orphan who grew out of the system. A mysterious benefactor pays for her college degree. Although I enjoyed the film, I loved the book so much more.
It arrived a few weeks ago and I read the first 220 pages the first night. I probably would have completed the book if my husband hadn’t insisted that I go to bed because it was getting late. I figured I would just read the beginning, but I was hooked pretty quickly. Judy’s character (Jerusha Abbot, who later calls herself Judy) is spunky and surprisingly modern. She is an orphan living in an asylum and about to age out of it when an anonymous benefactor, a trustee of the asylum’s, offers to pay for her college education and everything she needs. In exchange, he only requires that she writes to him once a month to update him on her progress at school.
By looking at the illustrations and photographs in the book you would expect people from the early 1900s to be quite different from people today, but Judy and the other characters were surprisingly relatable. When on one page Judy mentions winning the right to vote “one day” I was thrown for a loop for a minute and had an “Oh yeah, this book was written in 1912 moment.” White women did not have the right to vote at the time. Except for a few details such as this, one would think that it was written not that long ago. It read extremely modern and Judy’s college experience sounded quite a lot like mine.
Daddy Long Legs is still in print and you can find affordable paperback editions online. I’ve linked one here if you are interested in learning more about this book or reading it for yourself. This edition also includes the sequel.
Only the beginning of the book is written like a novel. The entire story is actually told through Judy’s letters to her mysterious benefactor, who she has nicknamed “Daddy Long Legs.” She calls him this because she has only caught a glimpse of his back and his stretched out shadow on a wall that reminder her of a daddy long legs spider as he was leaving the asylum one day. I was not sure if I would like a story that is told almost completely through correspondence, especially a one sided one as Daddy Long Legs never writes her back, but I found myself enjoying it quite a bit more than many books I have read lately. I honestly did not want to put it down. If you have not seen the movie either, then I don’t want to give it all away because there is a twist towards the end if you didn’t pick up on the clues in the middle of the book.
It is not a historic masterpiece like Little Women or Anne of Green Gables, but it is a lovely book about an orphaned young woman growing up and finding her way in the world. Judy is quirky and fun. I liked her funny childish reactions to things and watching her grow more assertive through her letters. It is far from being the first depilatory novel (a novel written completely in documents such as letters), but it had a unique look that I haven’t seen in many novels before. This style of novel is used frequently in coming of age stories, like the book Harriet The Spy. I haven’t read a book in this style since I was young, but I did enjoy it in this case.
I will not tell you how the story ends because I do not want to spoil it for you and I have already been careful to keep important details hidden so you will discover them if you read it yourself. All I will say is that I found this book as charming today as I’m sure it was back then. Except for a few minor details, I would have thought that the book was written just recently. Add in some different fashion, foods, and technology and you would have yourself a modern coming of age story. It is really darling. I hope you will read it for yourself.
Now I just need to find the Sequel, “Dear Enemy” to add to my reading list.
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