Dear Enemy by Jean Webster (Daddy-Long Legs, Book 2)

Dear Enemy by Jean Webster

Completed: January 17, 2011

Reason for Reading: Carry on with the Series.

Jean Webster (1876-1916) was an American novelist, playwright, and social activist. During the start of the twentieth century (1912), Webster wrote "Daddy-Long-Legs", an epistolary, best-selling novel that she developed into a play. It met with much success, and the characters were sold as dolls, the money from which going to charities to help fund orphan adoptions. In 1915, Webster published the sequel, "Dear Enemy". Written in the same epistolary form, "Dear Enemy" met with best-selling acclaim as well. The novel is unique in that the story is propelled by crude, stick-figure animations, drawn by Webster herself, that add a whimsical air to the social issues addressed, the care of orphans and women's life choices in particular. Sadly, Webster died of childbirth fever in 1916, just a year after the success of "Dear Enemy".

Welcome to Six Sentence Saturday.

Where I try to express my thoughts on recent reads using only 6 sentences!!!!.

At the end of each review I will post a

rating scale of 1-5 using the cute and original (lol) Playing Cards.

Rating scale will be as follows:

5 of Hearts- You must read this book NOW!!

4 of Hearts- A great read, put it on your TBR list.

3 of Hearts- Glad I read but no big deal

2 of Hearts- Why did I finish this?

Joker Card - Don't bother (why did I?)

(I did post like this back in 2009. Thought I would bring it back once in a while in 2011. I stole it from Staci at Life in the Thumb.)

Dear Enemy is the sequel to Daddy-Long-Legs, which I read earlier this month and quite enjoyed. This book was very different in tone and nature, but was still told in the epistolary form. If you do not read this book expecting something similar, it is enjoyable and the narrator does entertain; but it is missing some of the magic that her previous work held. This book is about a woman who comes from a good background and takes over orphanage that Judy, the character from the previous book, used to live in; so she is pretty much the exact opposite of Judy when we met her. It is predictable and the story has essentially been done before, but it has its quirky moments and you will still get caught up in the story. I enjoyed how everything played out in the end and thought it was a satisfactory ending and the majority of the letters were sent to Judy, so you still found out what was going on with her, too.

Series:
Daddy-Long-Legs
Dear Enemby

Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster

Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster

Completed January 4, 2011

Recommended by Ana

This is the much-loved tale of Judy Abbott, a lively, endearing young girl growing up in an orphanage. Her dreams of college seem in vain until the unknown benefactor offers to pay for her tuition. The only requirements are that she must write to him every month, and that she can never know who he is. Judy's letters to him about life at college are full of her hopes and dreams, troubles, and a growing friendship with the handsome Jervis Pendleton. With so much going on in her life, Judy can scarcely stop writing, and when she discovers who daddy long-legs is, there is a happily-ever-after surprise.

When Ana reviewed this book in the first place she sounded so enthusiastic I knew I was going to have to read it eventually. The library didn't have it, though, so I put it on the list to read eventually. Then, she mentioned it in her end of the year Best of... post and reminded me about it all over again. The best thing is that now I have an eReader and Gutenberg had it available. I am so happy that my memory was refreshed! I read the book in one sitting and I was so sad when it was over. I strongly believe that there is a good chance this will make my Best of... list for 2011.

This is a book that was published in 1912. It is an epistolary novel, which I tend to love, that is written really well. Jerusha Abbot is the narrator, as it is she that writes all of the letters. She is later known as Judy, but it follows her life from graduating from high school to college graduation. She finds that her dreams are about to come true because an unknown trustee is going to pay for her to be a writer. The only thing that he asks is that she writes letters periodically to tell him how she is progressing in her studies. He wishes to remain anonymous, but she does catch a glimpse of him on the day that she finds out about the deal. He tells her to address the letters to Mr. John Smith, but because he is tall and thin she starts calling him Daddy-Long Legs. It's cute and sets the tone of her letters.

This book may be playful in nature, but it is also about a young woman who has the very rare chance to have a dream and be able to fulfill it. She grew up as an orphan, but now she feels like the whole world is laid out before her. Even though she is only supposed to write letters periodically, she writes whenever the inspiration strikes her. This leads to four years of her hopes, dreams, feelings, memories, and so much more. Judy is so much fun! In Ana's review she compared her to Anne Shirley, and I have to admit that is probably one of the best comparisons you can make. That might be why I enjoyed her so much. She is naive in the same way as Anne. She has spent most of her life sheltered and doesn't entirely know the ways of the world yet.

I don't want to spoiler everything, but I have to admit that the books plot is a bit predictable. I was not surprised how things played out, but even expecting it I really enjoyed it! It was a cute book, but at the same time it had much more going on than meets the eye. I am so glad I got a chance to read this book!

Duology:

Daddy-Long-Legs

Dear Enemy

This book counts for the TwentyEleven Reading Challenge.