A trustee of the John Grier orphanage has offered to send Judy Abbott to college. The only requirements are that she must write to him every month and that she can never know who he is. Judy’s life at college is a whirlwind of friends, classes, parties and a growing friendship with the handsome Jervis Pendleton. With so much happening in her life, Judy can scarcely stop writing to ‘Daddy-Long-Legs’, or wondering who her mysterious benefactor is…
Going to start my summer reading challenge with this book. The premise reminds me of a book I read recently, pictured below.
Sam is, to say the least, bookish. An English major of the highest order, her diet has always been Austen, Dickens, and Shakespeare. The problem is, both her prose and conversation tend to be more Elizabeth Bennet than Samantha Moore.
But life for the twenty-three-year-old orphan is about to get stranger than fiction. An anonymous, Dickensian benefactor (calling himself Mr. Knightley) offers to put Sam through Northwestern University’s prestigious Medill School of Journalism. There is only one catch: Sam must write frequent letters to the mysterious donor, detailing her progress.
I read Dear Mr. Knightly fairly quickly, as I wanted to know how it ended! Ha. It was extremely easy to read and a very sweet story. Daddy Long Legs, pictured at the top, I picked up because it was a Puffin Classic and one I had seen off and on at thrift stores and thought I should read it. When I took it home and did research on what it was about, this book, pictured above, Dear Mr. Knightly came to mind.
I am interested to see the similarities. Daddy Long Legs published in 1912. Dear Mr. Knightly in 2013. Mr. Knightly is in Emma, of course, for all you Jane Austen Fans. Rumor is Daddy Long Legs has Austen vibes of Pride & Prejudice and Emma. (1813 and 1815 publication dates) Emma being my LEAST favorite Austen book, I hope this isn’t so. In case you are interested I am definitely a BRONTE girl. While looking up books of Katherine Reay I noticed she had a book called The Bronte Plot so I have added it to my massive must read list…..for fall, because I just added little bits of reading of Gone With The Wind to my morning coffee routine.
Phew. Books books books. A reading I will go! I’ll keep you posted.
Peace.
