JEAN WEBSTER DADDY-LONG-LEGS
One day when I returned home, I found my younger daughter in tears. When I asked her the reason, she started crying louder but did not give any reason. I asker my elder daughter about this but she also was clueless. Later my younger daughter told me that she was reading a novel “Daddy-Long-Legs” by Jean Webster, which made her cry. I was hardly impressed by the title or the cover page of the novel and asked her not to read such a novel, which makes her cry. But the book had already aroused interest in me. I opened the book late in the night after my daughter went to sleep. I don’t think anyone will be able to guess what this book is about just by looking at the title or the cover page! It’s a lovely story, and it’s a surprise love story, but you won’t realize who loves whom until you get right to the very end. In the beginning, it is a series of letters, written by an American orphan girl, really just on the brink of womanhood. When we first meet Judy Abbott she is seventeen years old and still living in an Orphanage. She does well at the local high school and one of the trustees of the orphanage offers to pay for her to go to college. But he insists on anonymity. All he asks is that she writes a letter to him once a month to let him know of her progress through college. She is to address him as John Smith, and she is to expect no reply. So, you see, it is a rather one-sided correspondence! Well, how would you feel if you had lived all your life without any family of your own and without anyone showing the slightest interest in you, and suddenly, quite out of the blue, someone started to shower you with kindness? I expect, like Judy, you would be desperate to know more about your mysterious benefactor: “I wish you’d come and take tea some day and let me see if I like you. But wouldn’t it be dreadful if I didn’t? However, I know I should.” Of course, over the years of her study at college Judy grows into a lively and attractive young woman who takes enormous delight in the little pleasures of ordinary life. It’s easy to see why Jervis Pendleton, her rich room-mate’s uncle, finds her company so enjoyable. And it’s easy to see why Jimmy McBride finds her fun to be with too. He’s the brother of her other room-mate. And do you want to know who she falls in love with? You will have to read the book then. It’s such a sweet finish. I would hate to spoil it for you! I loved this book. It’s very quick and easy to read because of the letter format. And it’s a charming story!
Pradeep Ratnaparkhi