Set in Southern California after the Mexican-American War and annexation of the territory by the United States, Ramona explores the life of a mixed-race Scottish-Native American orphan girl. Originally serialized weekly in the Christian Union, the novel became immensely popular with more than 300 printings, and several adaptations to theater and film.
The novel's influence on the culture and image of Southern California was considerable. Its sentimental portrayal of Spanish and Mexican elite colonial life contributed to establishing a unique cultural identity for the region. As its publication coincided with the arrival of railroad lines in the region, tourists used trains to visit sites thought to be associated with the novel.
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There are few novels better known than the story of Ramona. Intensely thrilling without sensationalism, it most graphically illustrates the white man's injustice to the Indian. It is a stirring romance of an Indian girl, Ramona, who, though brought up on a great Spanish estate in Southern California, chooses the life of her own people. It is told with such sympathetic tenderness that the reader longs to visit the scenes wherein lived the simple, patient Ramona and the noble-hearted Alessandro as described by Mrs. Jackson. So rich is the story in local color—the frolic and toil of sheep-shearing, the calm opulence of sun-steeped vineyards, the busy ranch, the Indian village; and so strong is it in character—the bigoted, just châtelaine, the tender Ramona, the good old priest—that its effect of reality is unescapable.
—from the dust jacket
"Ramona is recognized by foremost critics as one of the best creations of modern fiction.. It is the greatest story of California ever written. It will always remain as an eloquent plea for justice to a rapidly disappearing native race."
—The San Francesco Chronicle.
"Mrs. Jackson shows a ripeness of art and a richness of color which makes one feel that he has come unexpectedly upon a Murillo in literature The story is one of the most artistic creations in American literature."
—Atlantic Monthly.
"Ramona and Alessandro are vital figures in literature. They will live for their poetic beauty and dramatic truth."
—The Brooklyn Eagle.
"Nothing seems to dim the popularity of Helen Hunt Jackson's passionate plea for the Indian, and Ramona goes through edition after edition. The story has undying qualities as a work of literary art."
—The Chicago Tribune.
"Ramona is one of the stories that have taken a permanent place in the list of fictional classics which portray historic phases of our many-sided American life."
—The Boston Herald.
"Ramona is a novel to sit up all night over; perhaps to take up again and read with pleasure a second time. It is indeed a romance of the finest type."
—The New York Times.
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