Helen Hunt Jackson was one of the most popular women writers of her day. More than just a love story, it is a tale who’s message is as important today as it was when the novel first hit the public stage. Woven into the romance of “Ramona” is a glimpse of the tragic history of Southern California’s native peoples. It became an instant best seller, and, as “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” had a generation earlier, not only changed the way people looked at the world outside their own comfort zone, it gave the average citizen a look into a culture they had previously only heard rumor of. The sheer gravity of its message could not be ignored. When Helen Hunt Jackson’s novel “Ramona” was first published in 1884, it was hurled against the public mindset like an ocean wave against a row boat. Like Romeo and Juliet, Wuthering Heights, and even a more modern fable like The Great Gatsby, “Ramona” has planted itself in our cultural consciousness in a very unique way. The tragic tale of Ramona and her lover Alessandro is just such a story. Every century or so, a story will emerge that carries so much social and emotional importance it becomes first a classic, and then… iconic.
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