"Ramona" by Helen Hunt Jackson

I was assigned to read this for my American Lit class. The class is structured around the topic of the Wild West, and Westerns apparently developed as a response to something called domestic fiction. What is domestic fiction, you might ask. Well, imagine a bunch of self-righteous middle class women seeking to reform society through tales of disadvantaged young heroines who triumph over adversity through virtue, piety, and kindness. Are you nauseous yet? Now add some saccharine-sweet sentimentality, intended to manipulate your interpretation of the book through an abundance of emotion, and you have domestic fiction. Ready to heave now? Because you're sure to be heaving after trudging your way through Ramona, hopefully my last foray into domestic fiction. I understand now, more than ever, why Virginia Woolf felt it necessary to kill off the Angel in the House. What's the story about? Do you really care? Run away, far away. Go read something violent.