4 h 45 minAudiobook9 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 4 h 45 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the person who opens your world expects your letters, but never writes back?
Jerusha Abbott grows up under the strict rules of the John Grier Home. When a trustee notices her writing talent, an anonymous benefactor offers her a college education. Calling herself Judy, she enters a world of friendships and possibilities. In return, she must write regularly to the man she calls Daddy-Long-Legs.
Judy’s letters brim with humor, curiosity, and ambition. Sally McBride brings warmth and companionship; wealthy Julia Pendleton makes Judy feel the distance between their lives. As Julia’s uncle, Jervis Pendleton, becomes important to her, Judy faces a deeper question: can she accept another person’s help and still choose her own path?
What you’ll discover
- Letters full of life Discover Judy through candid letters that turn college discoveries into moments of wit and delight.
- An education beyond lessons Follow an aspiring writer as she explores friendships, unfamiliar homes, and her own ambitions.
- The ache of belonging Feel the gap between Judy’s childhood and the memories her fellow students take for granted.
- Gratitude meets stubbornness Share Judy’s struggle to welcome kindness without giving up the right to make her choices.
- Room for hopeful romance Watch love become part of Judy’s wish to shape a life on her own terms.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy stories told through letters, candid and funny narrators, and college friendships will love this book. It also suits anyone who likes watching a young woman find her voice.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A funny essay wins an orphan a future
- College gives Jerusha a new name and room
- Books, failure and illness bring Judy closer to Daddy
- A farm summer brings her a friend, Master Jervie
- Judy insists on standing on her own feet
- Judy learns what a family really is
- Imagination, kindness and present joy go together
- The letters make a one-sided talk feel alive
Who’s who
- Judy AbbottBorn Jerusha, an orphan sent to college, she is funny, impulsive and proud, and she wants an education, a voice as a writer, and a family.
- Daddy-Long-LegsThe tall, rich, unnamed trustee who pays for Judy's education and wants only her monthly letters, never answering them.
- Mrs. LippettThe matron of the John Grier Home, pompous with visitors and strict with the children, who delivers the news of the offer.
- Sallie McBrideJudy's red-haired roommate and best friend, cheerful and warm, who shares her family and her good humour.
- Julia Rutledge PendletonA proud roommate from an old New York family who slowly grows friendlier, and who has a rich and interesting uncle.
- Master JervieJervis Pendleton, Julia's tall uncle, easy to talk to, who loves books and the outdoors and becomes Judy's close friend.
- Mrs. SempleThe farm keeper at Lock Willow, once a nurse to Master Jervie, who fusses over him and over Judy in turn.
Formats and delivery
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- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
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- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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Daddy-Long-Legs
by Jean Webster · 1912
A girl in an orphanage sees a long shadow on a wall and soon writes monthly letters to a man she cannot name.
Easy read2–5 hours to readItaliano
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In short
What would you do if a tall shadow on a wall made you laugh, and moments later the man who cast it changed your life? That is how it begins for Jerusha Abbott, the oldest orphan at the John Grier Home.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A funny essay wins an orphan a future
The story opens on Blue Wednesday, the first Wednesday of each month, when the trustees visit the John Grier Home. Ninety-seven orphans must be scrubbed, combed and drilled to say yes sir and no sir. Jerusha, the oldest, does most of the work.
When the visit ends, she watches the carriages roll away. She tries to picture the homes they are heading for, but her imagination stops at the front porch. Then she is called to the matron. In the hall she sees the last trustee leave. The lights of his car throw his shadow along the wall, with legs and arms stretched out like a giant daddy-long-legs, and she laughs.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 9 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1912
- Language
- Italiano
- Level
- Easy read
Cite this edition
Webster, Jean. Daddy-Long-Legs. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/daddy-long-legs.
Webster, J. (2026). Daddy-Long-Legs. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/daddy-long-legs (Original work published 1912)
Webster, Jean. Daddy-Long-Legs. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/daddy-long-legs.
@book{webster2026daddylonglegs,
author = {Webster, Jean},
title = {Daddy-Long-Legs},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/daddy-long-legs},
note = {First published 1912}
}
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What is Daddy-Long-Legs about?
It tells the story of Jerusha Abbott, an orphan whose witty essay wins her a college education paid for by a secret trustee. She writes him monthly letters about her studies, friends and summers, and slowly grows into an independent young woman.
Why is she called Daddy-Long-Legs?
Judy glimpses her benefactor's back, then sees his shadow on a wall, stretched out like a daddy-long-legs insect. Since John Smith seems too impersonal, she chooses Daddy-Long-Legs, a pet name based on the one quality he will always retain: his height.
Is Daddy-Long-Legs a true story, and when was it written?
It is a work of fiction by Jean Webster, written in the early twentieth century. It draws on the world of women's colleges, orphanages and charities of that time, but Judy and her letters are invented.
The author
Jean Webster
1876–1916 · American novelist
Jean Webster was the pen name of Alice Jane Chandler Webster, an American novelist born in Fredonia, New York, in 1876. She later lived in New York City, where she died in 1916. Her novels include When Patty Went to College (1903), Daddy-Long-Legs (1912), and Dear Enemy (1915).
More by Jean Webster
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