Daddy-Long-Legs

When seventeen-year-old Jerusha Abbott is offered a college education by an anonymous trustee, she has no idea who he is: she has seen only his long-legged shadow. She agrees to write him a letter every month, and so begins a one-sided correspondence that will change her life.

Daddy-Long-Legs is Jean Webster's epistolary novel, first published in 1912. Through Judy's lively, funny, and often moving letters, readers follow her journey from an orphanage to a women's college, where she discovers friendship, ambition, and the possibility of love. Along the way, she grapples with questions of identity, gratitude, and independence, all while trying to uncover the identity of the mysterious benefactor she calls Daddy-Long-Legs.

This edition includes the complete text of the novel, a new introduction that sets the book in its historical and literary context, a character guide, a summary of the plot, an exploration of major themes, a glossary of period terms, and a set of discussion questions for readers, students, and book clubs. Whether you are discovering Judy's story for the first time or returning to it after many years, this edition is a good companion.