I loved Daddy-Long-Legs, so naturally I read Dear Enemy too.
And somehow I ended up loving this one just as much.
It is the sequel, but instead of Judy, the letters are written mainly by her friend Sallie McBride, who has been put in charge of the John Grier Home.
Sallie is probably one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much.
She is funny, stubborn, quite dramatic at times, and not remotely the sort of person you would immediately imagine running an orphanage.
Also, she has red hair.
I have a weakness for red-haired heroines. I don’t know why. I just do. 😂
But the real problem here is Dr MacRae.
Sandy.
Cold, serious, difficult Sandy.
I remember liking him enormously.
At the beginning, he and Sallie do not get along at all. He thinks she is frivolous and inexperienced. She finds him infuriating.
Which, of course, made me very happy.
I love enemies-to-lovers.
Not necessarily people genuinely trying to destroy each other. I mean that particular kind where two people keep clashing because they completely misunderstand one another, and then somewhere along the way the irritation starts turning into something else.
And Sandy has that Mr Darcy sort of appeal to me.
Not that he is Mr Darcy.
Just that same difficult, reserved man who initially seems cold and judgmental, and then you slowly realise there is considerably more going on underneath.
And naturally he has a tragic history as well.
Because apparently being cold and difficult wasn’t enough. 🤣
I won’t go into it because I don’t want to spoil the book, but learning more about him changes the way you see him.
That worked very well on me.
I also loved that Dear Enemy kept the letter format from Daddy-Long-Legs. There is something about reading a character’s letters that makes everything feel more intimate.
You see Sallie getting annoyed with Sandy.
Then mentioning Sandy again.
And again.
And being very annoyed with him.
Very, very annoyed.
At some point you start thinking, Sallie, you are writing about this man quite a lot for somebody you supposedly cannot stand.
😂
That is exactly the sort of romance I enjoy.
The book isn’t only about the romance, though. A lot of it is Sallie trying to improve the orphanage and slowly becoming attached to the children and the work.
I liked watching her grow into the job.
She doesn’t suddenly become some perfect, self-sacrificing heroine. She remains Sallie. She complains, gets frustrated and has opinions about absolutely everything.
But she cares.
And gradually you realise how seriously she has begun taking the responsibility she was originally quite reluctant to accept.
Maybe that is part of what I love about Jean Webster’s books.
There is romance, yes, but the heroine also gets a life.
Judy gets education and independence.
Sallie finds work that actually means something to her.
And then there is the romance on top of that.
In Sallie’s case, with a grumpy Scottish doctor.
A tragic one.
Who she initially dislikes.
Honestly, what more did I want?
5/5