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Who Would Have Thought It? (Penguin Classics) Paperback – August 25, 2009

by Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton (Author), Amelia Maria de la L Montes (Editor, Introduction)
3.7 out of 5 stars 6 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Series: Penguin Classics
  • Paperback: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Classics; Reprint edition (August 25, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0143105876
  • ISBN-13: 978-0143105879
  • Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.8 x 7.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #372,592 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsAn amusing and disturbing novel of the Civil War era.
By Richard Amero on March 8, 2002
Format: Paperback
Who Would Have Thought It?, a novel by Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton has as its kernel the Cinderella story. The Cinderella is Lola Medina, daughter of a prominent Spanish-Mexican family, whose mother had been abducted by Indians shortly before she gave birth. Before dying, the mother handed her daughter over to the care of Dr. James Norval, and appointed him trustee over a fortune that had come into her possession. Dr. Norval would be the kind stepfather in the tale, while the evil stepmother is his wife Jemima Norval, hypocritical upholder of Puritan morality. As Lola's skin had been dyed by the Indians she bore the stigma of being of mixed blood which intensified the hostility with which she was treated by her New England guardians.
By using irony and satire, the author created a wide contrast between the merits of beautiful (but passive) Lola, with whom she identified herself, and the demerits of greedy Anglo-American social climbers. The most offensive of these are the cynical Rev. Hackwell and Mrs. Norval, the covetous stepmother. Upon receiving a false report of the death of her husband, Mrs. Norval entered into a clandestine marriage (so she believed) with the sexually appealing Hackwell. To show the inner life of these conniving people, the author used a simple analogy. Beneath their apparently unruffled services, devils of passion and greed, also called imps, clamored to be released.
The novel is set during the Civil War and ends with a glance at matters during the Reconstruction. The two heroes Issac Sprig and Julian Norval, brother and son respectively of Mrs. Norval, fight in the Union cause. Issac was confined to a Confederate prison from which he was released through the intercession of a kindly Confederate office.Read more ›
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2.0 out of 5 starsInteresting as a Historical Document
By Paul A. Spengler on August 29, 2011
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
This novel is interesting mainly as a historical document. Written in 1872, it describes the Civil War era from a New England vantage point, but written by a Mexican American. The story line focuses on a young Mexican girl (Lola Medina) at risk of being cheated out of an inheritance and the young American soldier (Julian Norval) who loves her. The soldier must also deal with rivals who use the army bureaucracy to attempt to destroy his career. The plot is melodrammatic and the writing is uneven. There are a lot of loose ends. The young girl's benefactor, Dr. Norval (Julian's father), goes on safari in Africa, leaving Lola to the mercies of his unscrupulous relatives. We are later told that he has returned, but he never actually appears again in the novel. Some of the satire is laid on rather thickly, including characters with names like Le Grand Gunn (a union army general), the Cackle brothers (Civil War officers and profiteers), a couple of demagogic, unscrupulous clergymen named and Hackwell and Hammarhard, soldiers named Sophy Head and Scaly Wagg, etc. But the story has it's more interesting moments, as young Lola tries to deal with the racial prejudices of her benefactor's wife and her young soldier has to fight against unscrupulous crooks in the army and in the government. There are two, not very flattering scenes featuring Abraham Lincoln, whom the author portrays as a naive rustic, manipulated by thieving administrators in the War Department. It's not clear why the author took such an unfavorable view of Lincoln. The book was worth reissuing as an example of the popular literature of the time and because it was the first novel written by a Mexican American. As a work of fiction, it only partially succeeds.
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5.0 out of 5 stars"Who Would Have Thought It?" would be a great read?
By Jose Beltran on February 10, 2010
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Thanks to the reclamation project we have this wonderful piece of literature. De Barton is said to be the first Mexicana Novelist, lived through the Civil War, and was friends with the wife of then President Lincoln. With a hearty historical background this book has come to be respected as a an important narrative about Post-Civil War relations between Mexicana/os and the U.S. The writer's perspective is very telling of the effects of colonial racism and the way in which whole groups of people can sometimes internalize such ideas. At least one entire book and several articles have been written on the themes and importance of this book. It is a great read and I would recommend to anyone that is not afraid of the fact that it was written in the 1800's and can deal with a bit of out dated vernacular.
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