An orphan discovers the world – and finds love

My favorite book of the month: Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster

by Beate Boeker

This book was first published in 1912, but it's still powerful today. It's the story of Jerusha Abbott who prefers to be called Judy. She's a pennyless orphan, and she's sent to a fine school by an unknown benefactor. In return for her education, she only has to do one thing: Write a monthly letter to her unknown benefactor – a job she does with so much warmth and style that this short novel immediately went onto my special shelf where I keep my best-loved books.

I particularly like her wit when it comes to people who treat her with arrogance. In this passage,she describes her rich and superficial roommate, who has just tried to find out all about her family, throwing poor Judy into a panic because the orphanage in her background is a secret.

Her mother was a Rutherford. The family came over in the ark, and were connected by marriage with Henry the VIII. On her father's side they date back further than Adam. On the topmost branches of her family tree there's a superior breed of monkeys with very fine silky hair and extra long tails.

I couldn't stop chuckling when I read that – and often think of this „superior breed of monkeys“ when I have to deal with people who think that they don't have to treat others with respect just because of their position.

Do you have favorite quotes in your preferred books that pop up in your mind in real life? If yes, please share them with us! And if you are looking for new books – and new quotes – then don't forget to sign up for the Sweet Romance Reads newsletter!