7 h 40 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 7 h 40 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when a witty society girl takes charge of an orphanage—and meets a doctor who challenges her every idea?
Sallie McBride has no training for running the John Grier Home. But her college friend Judy Abbott Pendleton, once a child there herself, persuades her to try. In Jean Webster’s Dear Enemy, the sequel to Daddy-Long-Legs, Sallie faces a household of children whose needs demand more than good intentions.
Her letters carry the story: to Judy, to suppliers, to her suitor Gordon Hallock, and to Dr. Robin MacRae. The blunt Scottish doctor works hard for the children and disagrees with Sallie about almost everything. As she begins practical reforms, their quarrels bring comedy and growing affection to a serious question: what does good care require?
What you’ll discover
- A voice worth following Sallie’s quick wit and pride give her letters warmth, sparkle, and a lively sense of character.
- Kindness put to work Small, practical reforms reveal what it takes to make an institution kinder to its children.
- A stubborn pair Sallie and Dr. MacRae turn disagreements over care into a slow-burning quarrel touched by affection.
- Children with their own stories Meet children with separate histories and temperaments, not merely a backdrop for the adults.
- Two lives to consider Gordon Hallock represents Sallie’s old social world as she discovers how much her work matters.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy witty letters, warmhearted reform, and teasing friendships will love this novel. Admirers of Webster's earlier novel and readers drawn to women finding useful work will appreciate its playful relationships and the purposeful spirit running through the story.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- An unwanted job reveals real needs
- An enemy becomes a working partner
- Comfort tells children that they matter
- Attention reaches children where punishment fails
- A loving offer creates a painful choice
- Children need both knowledge and affection
- Useful work changes what Sallie wants
- The letters reveal more than Sallie admits
- Reform begins with seeing each child
Who’s who
- Sallie McBrideA rich, witty young woman from Worcester who agrees to run an orphan asylum and discovers she is good at it.
- Dr. Robin MacRaeThe stern Scottish children's doctor whom Sallie nicknames Enemy and Sandy, devoted to science and unwilling to talk about himself.
- Judy PendletonSallie's college friend and an orphan raised in the home, who wants it remade and writes for every detail.
- Gordon HallockA charming young politician who sends gifts and wants Sallie to leave the asylum and live a society life.
- Betsy KindredA tasteful classmate who joins as secretary, paints the dining room, and becomes Sallie's closest helper.
- Sadie Kate KilcoyneA clever, mischievous eleven-year-old foundling who runs Sallie's errands and writes her thank-you letters.
- PunchA five-year-old with a fierce temper and foul mouth who loves to draw and needs kindness.
- Percy de Forest WitherspoonA cheerful young banker who leads the boys' camp and the fire drills and talks constantly of his girl in Detroit.
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Dear Enemy in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Dear Enemy
by Jean Webster · 1915
A red-haired society girl runs a hundred and thirteen orphans and fights a Scottish doctor over cod-liver oil.
Medium level2–5 hours to read2 languages
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In short
What happens when a young woman who loves parties is handed a hundred and thirteen orphans and a gloomy old building? Sallie McBride answers in letters, and the answers are funny, warm, and sometimes sharp.
Dear Enemy at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 25 min3 h 30 min fast, 5 h 15 min slow
- Length
- 63,500 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1915by Jean Webster
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Sallie McBride takes a job she never wanted
Sallie McBride is a rich, lively young woman from Worcester, with parties to attend and a charming politician named Gordon Hallock to flirt with. Her college friend Judy and Judy's husband Jervis ask her to run the John Grier Home, an orphan asylum. Sallie refuses in a funny letter. Then she goes anyway.
She arrives in a snowstorm at eleven at night with her maid Jane and her Chinese chow, Singapore. The staff take the dog for a wolf. The next morning she sees the dining room, with bare walls, tin cups, and a single text reading The Lord Will Provide. Rows of pale children in blue uniforms stare at her without a smile.
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- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 13 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1915
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 5 h 0 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Webster, Jean. Dear Enemy. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/dear-enemy.
Webster, J. (2026). Dear enemy. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/dear-enemy (Original work published 1915)
Webster, Jean. Dear Enemy. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/dear-enemy.
@book{webster2026dear,
author = {Webster, Jean},
title = {Dear Enemy},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/dear-enemy},
note = {First published 1915}
}
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What is Dear Enemy about?
Dear Enemy tells how Sallie McBride, a lively society girl, takes charge of the John Grier Home, an orphan asylum. Through her letters she reforms the place, cares for the children, and spars with a stern Scottish doctor.
Is Dear Enemy a sequel to Daddy-Long-Legs?
Yes, it continues Jean Webster's earlier book. Judy Abbott, the orphan heroine of Daddy-Long-Legs, is now Mrs. Jervis Pendleton, and she and her husband ask Sallie, her college friend, to remake the very asylum where Judy grew up.
Why is the doctor called Enemy in Dear Enemy?
Sallie gives Dr. Robin MacRae the nickname Enemy after one of their many quarrels over trivial matters. It starts as a joke, and it becomes a sign of how close and teasing their friendship is.
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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