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amphitritedreams's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
An often funny, warm-hearted epistolary novel.
I enjoyed this very much as a teenager and on re-read today. Sadly, my digital edition did not come with Sally's charming illustrations. Strictly, this is a sequel to Daddy Longlegs, but you don't need to read Daddy Longlegs to enjoy this, and I'd say Dear Enemy is the better (and certainly less worrying) book.
Set in the very early 20th century (before the 19th amendment), hot-tempered socialite Sally is talked into putting her engagement on hold in order to reform an orphan asylum. It's a hard job, complicated by sparring with an irritating Scottish doctor, difficult trustees and rebellious staff as well as her own ideas about what matters most.
I enjoyed this very much as a teenager and on re-read today. Sadly, my digital edition did not come with Sally's charming illustrations. Strictly, this is a sequel to Daddy Longlegs, but you don't need to read Daddy Longlegs to enjoy this, and I'd say Dear Enemy is the better (and certainly less worrying) book.
Set in the very early 20th century (before the 19th amendment), hot-tempered socialite Sally is talked into putting her engagement on hold in order to reform an orphan asylum. It's a hard job, complicated by sparring with an irritating Scottish doctor, difficult trustees and rebellious staff as well as her own ideas about what matters most.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism and Classism
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, and Racism
If the foreground of the story is an enemies to lovers romance, the context is managing an early 20th century orphan asylum. There are frequent passing references to the challenges faced by the children their birth families. Social work at the time was preoccupied with alcoholism, heritability and eugenics, and these themes get some additional coverage in period style.drippingchiffon's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Child abuse, Mental illness, and Ableism
Moderate: Death of parent, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Classism, Alcoholism, Racism, and Sexism
Minor: Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, and Forced institutionalization
icapturethecastle's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Death of parent, Medical content, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Mental illness, Death, and Medical trauma
Eugenicsspectacledbear's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
This is a sequel to Daddy-Long-Legs, which I've loved for a long time, but for some reason I didn't even know this book existed. It's longer than DLL, and is made up of letters written by Sallie McBride, mostly to her friend Judy Pendleton (nee Abbott, the main character/narrator of DLL), who has persuaded Sallie to take on the temporary leadership of the orphanage where Judy grew up. Unlike DLL, Dear Enemy includes letters to more than one person - Sallie also writes to her boyfriend and to the orphanage's doctor (the 'enemy' of the title).
That's about as spoilery as I'm going to get. It's a lovely book - Sallie's voice is honest and amusing, and her development throughout the book is subtle and enjoyable. I wouldn't describe it as funny, but it did make me laugh a few times, and it is very affecting in places.
That's about as spoilery as I'm going to get. It's a lovely book - Sallie's voice is honest and amusing, and her development throughout the book is subtle and enjoyable. I wouldn't describe it as funny, but it did make me laugh a few times, and it is very affecting in places.
Content Warnings
Minor: Abandonment, Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, and Racial slurs
I've ticked a lot of minor warnings for this book, but mostly because a) it was written in 1915 so, you know, different times, and b) it's set in an orphanage where children have been sent for a variety of reasons. The doctor, who is a main character, is very interested in mental illness and heredity and there is a brief discussion of eugenics. I don't think it's triggering or particularly offensive, but everyone's mileage varies.rosemaryfay's review
funny
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.5
This book is an infuriating sequel to Daddy-Long-Legs. It features Sally McBride who is by turns amusingly likeable and astonishingly racist and ableist. While Jean Webster continues to be an engaging and amusing author, and I love a slow burn romance as next as the next person, I simply cannot get over the absolutely abominable way Sally talks about some of the children and other disabled people.
This pervasive eugenics discussion honestly ruined the book for me. I finished it out of spite, but at 40% in, my note just says "I'm done." And it's true! Despite Webster's talent for developing proto-feminist characters in both her narrators and side characters (Betsy and Helen in this book particularly), the supposedly likeable narrator joking about the murder of a child under her care (BY ARSENIC. FROM THE DOCTOR.) because she is disabled is simply unforgivable. She...doesn't seem to grow much out of these beliefs as the book progresses, leaving me constantly worried about any child in her care who wasn't perfectly "normal," to use Sally's own horrible phrasing.
Also the love interest locking his wife who probably had a postpartum syndrome of some sort in an asylum is not cute or funny and I did not find find the ending satisfying at all.
I finished it, but i would strongly suggest that you look for your nineteen-teens literature elsewhere.
This pervasive eugenics discussion honestly ruined the book for me. I finished it out of spite, but at 40% in, my note just says "I'm done." And it's true! Despite Webster's talent for developing proto-feminist characters in both her narrators and side characters (Betsy and Helen in this book particularly), the supposedly likeable narrator joking about the murder of a child under her care (BY ARSENIC. FROM THE DOCTOR.) because she is disabled is simply unforgivable. She...doesn't seem to grow much out of these beliefs as the book progresses, leaving me constantly worried about any child in her care who wasn't perfectly "normal," to use Sally's own horrible phrasing.
I finished it, but i would strongly suggest that you look for your nineteen-teens literature elsewhere.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism
Minor: Forced institutionalization and Mental illness
There isn't a trigger tag for eugenics but I cannot emphasize enough the major role that eugenics plays in this book. Several pages are devoted to explaining why not allowing disabled people to have children is a good thing, and that is the milder of examples.
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