

It seems queer to be writing letters to somebody you don’t know. The evolution of Sallie’s relationships with two very different men provides an understated romantic motif.

Sallie McBride’s letters to several correspondents wittily describe the daily calamities and triumphs of her life, and we witness her growth from a frivolous socialite to a mature woman and an able executive. Although often called a sequel to Daddy-Long-Legs, it is actually a companion novel which chronicles the adventures of a college friend of Judy’s who becomes the superintendent of the orphanage in which Judy was raised. The reader is rewarded with a happy blend of humor, poignancy, and romance.ĭear Enemy, published November 1915, also became a bestseller.

Over the course of the next four years, her letters to this anonymous man chronicle Judy's educational, personal, and social growth. This epistolary novel tells the story of Jerusha “Judy” Abbott, an orphan whose attendance at a women’s college is sponsored by an anonymous benefactor. It has been adapted numerous times for the stage and film, even appearing as a feature-length Japanese anime movie. Today this book is often classified as children’s literature, but at the time it was part of a trend of books for and about adolescents and young women, which featured protagonists dealing with concerns such as college, career, and marriage. Her best-known books feature lively and likeable young female protagonists who come of age intellectually, morally, and socially with enough humor, snappy dialogue, and gently biting social commentary to make her books enjoyable to modern readers.ĭaddy-Long-Legs, Webster’s most famous work, was published in 1912 to popular and critical acclaim. Jean Webster (pseudonym for Alice Jane Chandler Webster) was an American author and playwright. This book is in the public domain in countries where copyright is “Life+99” or less, and in the USA. Daddy-Long-Legs was first published in 1912 Dear Enemy in 1915.
