Review of Daddy Longlegs by Jean Webster

Somehow I ran across the title Daddy Longlegs, and found it was free on Kindle. It is a novel that was written around a century ago, so obviously is from a different era.

The basic plot is that an orphan girl named Jerusha is, at age 17, unexpectedly blessed by an unknown benefactor of her orphanage so that she is able to go to college.  The benefactor's only stipulation is that she write him a monthly letter about her progress.  She catches a glimpse of him as he leaves the orphanage the day she learns of his gift, and she sees that he is tall so she nicknames him Daddy Longlegs.  Except for the first brief chapter which explains the gift and the orphanage and a little about Jerusha's childhood in the orphanage, the rest of the book is in the form of letters to her Daddy Longlegs.  He never writes back personally though does send her occasional gifts and directives from his secretary.

Spoilers ahead.

I am guessing this is one of those books that most people really like.  It got good reviews on Amazon.   I enjoyed reading it but I tend to analyze things a lot and there are many issues with the book.

The first has to do with spiritual issues.  The main character is raised in an orphanage where apparently she was taught a form of Christianity that she disliked.  In her letters, she takes many swipes at Christianity and clergymen and churches.  I guess that's fine in the sense that many people do have problems with being raised with a wrong picture of the Lord.  But Jerusha learns to analyze and evaluate in college, but never seems to focus any of that training on religion.

The most unhealthy quote about God is when she disparages a minister and says that she, personally, will believe in God as she wants Him to be -- kind, generous, loving, and patient.  Now God is all those things, but God is a great deal more and it is very dangerous for someone to decide based on personal wisdom what God is like.  People are free not to believe in Him and many do.  Jerusha apparently decides that she believes in God, but will create Him in her own image.  The truth is that we are all humans limited by our brains and our experiences and if we just base our view on God on how we FEEL about things, we'll probably get into trouble.

Here's the other big issue I had with the book.  While at college, Jerusha meets the young and wealthy uncle of a fellow student.  He and she click and see each other periodically and fall in love.  Jerusha eventually turns down his marriage proposal as he is from a good family and she has never had the courage to tell him that she grew up in an orphanage and isn't from "good stock".  Keep in mind this was written 100 years ago when family line was a bigger deal than it is now.

Jerusha really likes the young man and near the end of the book pours out her sorrow about the breaking off of the relationship to her Daddy Longlegs.  He in turn finally writes her personally saying she should come into town to discuss the situation with him face to face.

It probably is no surprise to the astute reader that the young, wealthy uncle IS Daddy Longlegs.  He had apparently liked the sound of her from her letters and developed a relationship with her without revealing that he was her benefactor.

I guess most people consider that romantic. I think it is creepy.  I would be very unhappy if I was in that situation. She is very open in her letters and talks extensively about the young uncle and her view of him, and he is reading those letters.  At the end, Jerusha is thrilled to discover that Daddy Longlegs and her love are one and the same.  I'd be freaked out that someone would basically deceive me for years like that.

I realize this is from a different era and that may be part of the equation here.  I do think it is good to evaluate the messages in books. One of the messages here seems to be that deception in a close relationship is fine.  I don't like that message.