Ramona
About this audiobook
Ramona is an epic love story. But it’s also a tale of prejudice, treachery, and the systemic effort to vanquish California’s Native American population and their way of life.
Ramona Ortegna, the foster child of Señora Moreno, is much loved by all who live and work at the Moreno ranch, except Señora herself, who cannot bring herself to think of the girl as anything but a mixed-blood child. Half white, half Indian, Ramona had been adopted by the Senora’s sister who then entrusted the child to her upon her death. Already embittered by the loss to the Americans of much of her southern California land as the result of the 1846 Mexican-American War, the pious old woman is also distraught by the near destruction of California’s Catholic missions.
When a visiting Indian sheep shearer, Alessandro Assis, falls in love with Ramona and she with him, the two are forbidden to marry; the Senora’s plan is to give Ramona to the Church. The lovers have no choice but to flee and find a safe place to shelter, work, and live their lives.
In 1881, author, Helen Hunt Jackson wrote “A Century of Dishonor", a treatise that outlined the plight of Native Americans in California. Treated like slaves, and robbed of land that the Mexican government had given them rights to, they were further abused by the “land agents” the American government sent to aid them. When her book failed to capture the public’s attention, the author decided to try fiction. Ramona was a huge success. But it’s important to note that the love story of Ramona and Alessandro and their perilous nomadic journey was based on real-life incidents that Hunt Jackson discovered in her research. The story still resonates. It has spawned four movies and an annual outdoor play which, in 2023, celebrated its 100th anniversary at the “Ramona Bowl” in Hemet, California.
About the author
Helen Maria Hunt Jackson, born Helen Fiske (1830–1885 ), was an American writer who became an activist on behalf of improved treatment of Native Americans by the US government. She detailed the adverse effects of government actions in her history A Century of Dishonor. Her novel Ramona dramatized the federal government’s mistreatment of Native Americans in Southern California and attracted considerable attention to her cause.
Anne Hancock began her career with the Library of Congress's National Library Service (NLS) Talking Books Program, where she has narrated more than 300 audiobooks in a variety of genres. An AudioFile Earphones Award winner, she has lived in France and the Netherlands and uses her training in the languages of both countries in her narration. In addition, she has successfully narrated books with English and Irish accents.
