Ramona (Signet Classics)

"Pity me," wrote Emily Dickinson, in a letter to her girlhood friend Helen Hunt Jackson, "I have just finished 'Ramona.'" "Ramona," a 19th century wild West romance that inspired a spate of 20th century movies and a swing era band standard title song, is more readable than one might think, written by American author Jackson, who deserves to be better remembered. I only got into Helen and her work myself because of my interest in Emily and her world. "Ramona," though wonderfully well-written and still readable, even historically important, is a 19th century romance, and therefore not "literature," properly speaking, nor likely to turn up as required reading in any academic curriculum anytime soon. It's not easy for us today to imagine that age, back when the much more famous Emily Dickinson was still completely unknown, in which the too young death of Helen Hunt Jackson inspired a national day of mourning.Much of the historical interest of "Ramona" swirls around one of America's forgotten wars, much like Korea, in this case the Mexican War. To this day, Mexico still resents the loss of about half of itself to the burgeoning US, ceded to us by a corrupt pusillanimous Mexican government as essentially spoils of war, with matters considerably complicated by the discovery of gold in a huge chunk of it, California, a couple of years later. The issue in "Ramona," however, has principally to do with the fates of the population of the vast new territory at the time, namely its Mexicans and Indians. The tragic destruction of their wealth, ancient land titles and treaties, communities, culture and even people at the hands of the inrushing American population, all under the diffident benign neglect of Washington government, barely stopped short of softcore genocide. Jackson, already a famous writer, as a young New England widow, relocated to the West for health reasons and subsequently remarried, was one of those American thinkers of the day who discovered and got interested in the plight of this displaced, distressed population as a social issue.Jackson wrote a detailed survey of the crisis, with which she bombarded congress, only to get no palpable reaction. Accordingly, she decided that what was really needed was some sort of public outcry, inspired by some sort of popular literature, after the model of her friend and fellow New Englander Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin," which had so inflamed the nation as to inspire the Abolitionist movement. The resulting opus was "Ramona," the story of the doomed romance of a half breed Mexican rancher's daughter and a young Indian brave, their affairs caught up in the tidal wave of US immigration into their ancestral lands, and it's a dandy. No chick-lit here; it's a much different wild West as seen through the eyes of someone who actually lived there, written by a gal with a real gift for descriptive prose, eye for local color, and a keen insight into the inner motivations of her characters.In one sense, the book was a success; it was a huge best seller, and Emily Dickinson wasn't the only reader, by far, who adored it. In another sense, it failed, perhaps by being too good... certainly a far superior book to "Uncle Tom's Cabin." The same general public who were enthralled by its vividness somehow never internalized its story as depicting a real national crisis about which someone ought to do something. In defense of Washington, it must be said that the tiny government of the day, what with Indian wars, Reconstruction and such, already had enough on its plate to tremendously complicate things politically for them, even without such a vexed issue as this one. However that may be, Jackson was not about to give up, continuing to tour and write about the Southwest despite her mounting health problems, which, unfortunately, killed her a couple of years later, with her dreams of social justice still unrealized. The legacy: a ripping good story that lived on for a long time after its author. Not to mention an ongoing sociopolitical crisis with which anybody who knows the Southwest at all is only too familiar.

Helen Hunt Jackson wanted to write a novel that would do for the American Indian cause what UNCLE TOM’S CABIN had done for the Negro cause. The result was RAMONA, a sentimental novel, very Victorian in attitude, about a half-Indian girl named Ramona who has been raised by a rich and haughty Spanish foster mother. Whether the novel had much effect on Indian rights is unknown, but it was phenomenally successful and has been in print for more than 130 years, inspiring several films and even a hit song. It is basically a love story that takes place in Old California during the period when the Americans took over from the Spanish and drove the Indians from their ancestral homelands. The lovely Ramona, a ward of the cold, haughty, and rich Senora Moreno and her handsome son Felipe falls in love with Alessandro, a kind and noble Indian who is the son of a tribal chief. Senora Moreno is outraged at the very idea of such a thing and makes plans to send Ramona to a convent, but Ramona and Alessandro escape, only to find the world a cold and cruel place. Their love sustains them as they deal with one heartbreaking situation after another. Yes, it’s calculated and sentimental, but it’s still quite moving. Dickens wrung a lot of tears from his readers over dying children (Little Nell, Little Paul Dombey, Tiny Tim, etc.), and the lesson was not lost on Ms. Jackson. There are a lot of lucky coincidences and some unfortunate near-misses. There’s a big secret unknown to the heroine that could save her if she only knew. How can she ever find out when events seem to conspire against her?In the 19th Century the young America did produce some literature that was highly regarded internationally, like that of James Fenimore Cooper and Edgar Alan Poe. I would not place RAMONA in that category, but it was successful fiction and inspired many imitators. It’s not a great book, but it does make for entertaining reading. If it were published today, it would be called “chick-lit.” (If you look through the customer review of RAMONA, you’ll find them to be written overwhelmingly by females.) If you have an intelligent teenage girl in the family, she would probably really enjoy RAMONA. Three and a half stars, rounded up to four.

So I recently found out that my grandmother was named after the movie from 1936 that was based on this book. So I decided to purchase it for her in hopes that she might enjoy it. Now mind you my grandmother is 82 and I haven't seen a book in her hand for a better part of 20 years so she's not a big reader. That being said she absolutely loved this book. From the moment it arrived she started reading it. She spent the next 3 days reading the book for over half the day until she finished it. I asked her what she thought and she said that she loved it and that it kept pulling her in until the very ending. For the price and enjoyment it gave my grandmother I would highly recommend to anyone into older romance novels.

Ramona is a historical romantic fiction that was written in the late nineteenth to help publicize the cause of Indian Rights. The author, herself an activist, tells the story of the injustices that were done to the Spaniards, Mexicans and Indians by the early American explorers who came to California. Ramona, who is part-Indian. becomes the heroine in a tale of love and hate. The book is one of the most famous stories ever written about early California, and there have been annual Ramona-festivals in many towns over the years. There is also a town named Ramona in southern California. Most of the characters are very well drawn, but the main character of Ramona is lacking. This does not spoil the impact of the book. As a lover of early western history in America, this book is the best I have ever read about the transition of the old world into the new. Reading it for the second time, I have enjoyed it even more.

Do not read this version. I read the first paragraph and it was virtually incomprehensible, a poor translation from something. I tried another chapter half way through and it was no better. In fact, I found .... guys's - incorrectly punctuated. I have since discovered a different, original version on Kndle.

This book is important historically, and is about inter-racial marriage in a time when it wasn't well accepted, but it's no longer the romantic thriller is was when it was written! Just read the synopsis and skip the book.