Daddy-Long-Legs

This is one of my favourite novels. It is also one of my favourite rant topics, so you're in for a treat! Firstly, I suppose I should tell you something about the story, otherwise those of you who are looking for a brief synopsis and review will be left scratching your heads perplexedly as I rant on and on (and, knowing me, on and on and...).

The story begins in the John Grier orphanage, where we meet Jerusha Abbott, our protagonist. After a brief introductory chapter, in which we are brought up to speed on her life so far, we learn that a trustee of the orphanage has decided to send her to college, and the story proper begins. It takes the form of letters from Jerusha to said trustee (whom she calls Daddy-long-legs, due to his height) detailing the highs and lows of her daily life.

The letters are very sweet - Judy (she changes her name pretty fast. I don't blame her, I've never even heard of the name Jerusha, so I can't imagine having to live with it) is a charming narrator and the plot (and love story!) proceeds very happily, without at any point feeling contrived. The characters are real and one could imagine oneself sitting down for a coffee with almost any of them (not Julia. But then you aren't meant to). I was able to relate to her emotions and changes of feeling even if I couldn't quite relate to the experience (I've never been to an American university, especially not in the late 19th century. Have you?). Good! I have now finished my summary of the novel, and given you my opinion (I love, love, love it!).

Now, on to the rant... First, a spoiler alert - this is the bit where I give away some of the ending... It may sound like it, but I'm not about to complain about the novel. I think it's a fantastic novel, with no important faults, so I don't intend to bitch. No, I'm going vent about other reviews of the novel. The number of times I have read reviews that imply that Jervis is a paedophile, grooming his future wife from the age of about 12 is ridiculous. These are reviewers who have not read the novel.

Firstly, he meets her at 18. I cannot emphasise this enough. 18, people! (ok, maybe 17, but still...) In the UK, she would have been legal for almost two years, and even in the States, she either is legal or is about to be, when she hears her good fortune. I now realise I've made a slight mistake - he doesn't even meet her at the start of the novel! That's when we meet her. He doesn't meet her until he pops up to "visit Julia". So he clearly is not a paedophile (because she's an adult - I know I've laboured the point, but, listening to other reviewers, it's necessary) and, as he had no real idea of her existence until the day he heard her essay, he can't have been grooming her.

He may attempt to shape her views and encourage her to think more once he has met her, but that is no more than anyone does when they fall for someone who has slightly different views to them. Or at least it's what I do - I don't use as light a hand as he does either! My tendency is more towards simply ordering whoever the lucky boy is to agree with me (but then no-one's ever accused me of subtlety).

In summary, I love this novel (did you get that? I'm not sure it came through...), but I do feel that it has been unfairly maligned and I think some reviewers would do well to read the damn thing before they panic about paedophilic implications which simply aren't there.