Helen Hunt Jackson
Ramona
"Ramona" by Helen Hunt Jackson is a novel written in 1884. Set in Southern California after the Mexican-American War, it follows Ramona, a mixed-race Scottish-Native American orphan raised by a Mexican rancher who resents her heritage. When Ramona falls in love with Alessandro, a Native American sheepherder, they elope and face relentless hardship as American settlers drive them from their land. Jackson crafted this romantic tale to expose the mistreatment of Native Americans, though readers became more captivated by its sentimental vision of colonial California.