The 1915 sequel to Jean Webster's 1912 book Daddy-Long-Legs is titled, Dear Enemy. In 1916, it was one of the ten best-selling books in the United States. The narrative is told through a collection of letters sent by Judy Abbott's classmate and best friend from Daddy-Long-Legs, Sallie McBride. Judy, Jervis Pendleton, Judy's husband and the head of the orphanage where Sallie is serving as interim superintendent until a new superintendent can be hired, Gordon Hallock, a wealthy Congressman and Sallie's later fiancé, and the orphanage's doctor, bitter Scotsman Robin "Sandy" MacRae, are among those who receive the letters. Sallie's decisions regarding what to recount to each of her correspondents reveal a lot about her relationships with them, and Webster effectively uses the epistolary framework. In the same way, as Daddy-Long-Legs followed Judy Abbott's development from a small child to an adult, Dear Enemy demonstrates Sallie McBride's development from a naive socialite to a wise and capable. It also tracks Sallie's interactions with affluent politician Gordon Hallock and the orphanage's doctor, Dr. Robin MacRae. Sallie's early reluctance to dedicate herself to her profession and her gradual awareness of how joyful the work makes her and how incomplete she'd feel without it have an impact on both relationships.
Alice Jane Chandler Webster (July 24, 1876–June 11, 1916), an American author whose works include Daddy-Long-Legs and Dear Enemy, used the pen name, Jean Webster. Her most well-known works include young female protagonists who are engaging and likable and who mature intellectually, ethically, and socially. Her books also contain just the right amount of humor, snappy dialogue, and subtly cutting social criticism to appeal to modern readers. The birthplace of Alice Jane Chandler Webster is Fredonia, New York. She was the oldest child born to Charles Luther Webster and Annie Moffet Webster. With her great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother all sharing a home, she spent her early years in a strongly matriarchal and activist environment. Her great-grandmother advocated for temperance, and her grandmother for women's suffrage and racial equality. Mark Twain's mother was his niece, and Alice's father was the business manager of the 1884-founded Charles L. Webster & Company, which later published many of Mark Twain's works. The company started out well, and when Alice was five, the family moved to a sizable brownstone in New York, along with a vacation home on Long Island. However, the publishing house encountered problems, and things with Mark Twain got worse and worse.