"Daddy-Long-Legs" (1912) by Jean Webster is an epistolary novel told entirely through letters. Jerusha "Judy" Abbott, an orphan raised in a dreary asylum, unexpectedly receives a college education funded by a mysterious trustee. In return, she must write him monthly letters, though he never replies. She nicknames him "Daddy-Long-Legs" after glimpsing his tall, lanky shadow. Through her witty, humorous, and hopeful letters, Judy blossoms from a sheltered girl into an independent, educated young woman and aspiring writer. The story culminates in a heartwarming revelation: her anonymous benefactor is Jervis Pendleton, the charming young man she has fallen in love with.
