Who Would Have Thought It? (Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage) - Softcover

Maria Amparo Ruiz De Burton; Rosaura Sanchez; Beatrice Pita

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1558850813 ISBN 13: 9781558850811

Publisher: Arte Publico Press, 1995

Synopsis

Who Would Have Thought It? is a historical romance which engages the dominant myths about nationality, race and gender prevalent in society in the U.S. prior to and during the Civil War. The narrative follows a young Mexican girl as she is delivered from Indian captivity in the Southwest and comes to live in the household of a New England family. Culture and perspectives on national history and identity clash in the face of the dominant society's opportunism and hypocrisy. This early Hispanic historical romance, originally published in 1872, indicts the racism that was so prevalent in the 19th century.
As in her first novel, The Squatter and the Don, Ruiz de Burton reserves critical barbs for corruption in government and United States expansionism under the doctrine of Manifest Destiny. However, it is the recasting of the conventional novel of domesticity that Who Would Have Thought It? also addresses the disenfranchisement of women. Ruiz de Burton's deft character portrayals and satirical style make for a highly readable and enjoyable novel.

About this title

About the Author

Marķa Amparo Ruiz de Burton (1832-1895) was born in Loreto, Baja Mexico. She is also the author of The Squatter and the Don.

Amelia Marķa de la Luz Montes is an associate professor of English and ethnic studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

From Publishers Weekly

The insights into class and race in this clever satire set during and after the Civil War give it a thoroughly contemporary feel. It is even more astounding, then, to learn that it was first published in 1872, and that the author was not even a native English speaker. Burton (The Squatter and the Don) was a Baja California native who married a colonel in the Union Army, and here she combines to good effect both solid insider information and her perspective as an outsider. Dr. Norval returns to New England from a trip west carrying more than luggage. While in an Indian camp, Norval rescued a ten-year-old girl, whose mother was a kidnapped Mexican woman desperate to return Lola to the girl's father. Lola is scorned both by the local gentry, who believe she is either black or Indian, and by the doctor's wife?at least until Dr. Norval reveals that she was accompanied by a lot of gold. When word of her wealth gets out, Lola is treated like a lady as the townspeople begin complex plans to get close to her and her money. The details are exquisite. Burton excels at picking names for these supposedly good Christians, from Mrs. Cackle to the Reverends Hackwell and Hammerhard. In short chapters with titles like "Potations, Plotting and Propriety," Burton details the intricate mess of love and proposals?both honest and contrived. A thorough introduction traces specific themes like the novel's precocious portrayal of women entering the public sphere, and footnotes lend helpful historical background. In the end it is the story that counts, though, and this is a fully entertaining read that stands on its own against much of today's fiction.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Arte Publico Press
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 1558850813
• ISBN 13: 9781558850811
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 298
• Editor: Rosaura Sanchez, Beatrice Pita