I've just finished Daddy-Long Legs by Jean Webster, who, interestingly enough was the Great Niece of Mark Twain. I guess it has always paid to know the right people in the world of publishing. In any case, when I started reading this book, I was taken with how sweet and innocent it was. The adorable story told in a series of letters, of a young orphaned girl sent to college by an anonymous benefactor. Now that I'm done, honestly, I'm a little creeped out. No spoilers here, but reading this through a modern lens gave me pause and reminded me how entrenched we are in predatory behavior masquerading as saviourism, especially on the part of wealthy, white men. We've been conditioned to see it as romance, especially through this whole schoolgirl romance genre so popular in pre-WWI America, continuing well into the present day. Pretty Woman anyone? Hello, creepy predator played by Richard Gere. All we have to do is read the headline news see that not a whole lot has changed.
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