Who Would Have Thought It? (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. My Story of the American Civil War (Autobiographical Novel)By María Ruiz de Burton
Length12h 48m
About this audiobook
Who Would Have Thought It? is a sharp, satirical novel that follows Lola Medina, a Mexican girl rescued from captivity and brought into a hypocritical New England household during the Civil War era. Through domestic intrigue, racial prejudice, religious posturing, and wartime profiteering, the novel exposes the moral contradictions of U.S. society. Its style blends sentimental fiction, political satire, and social comedy, placing it in dialogue with nineteenth-century reform novels while unsettling their assumptions about race, nation, and virtue. María Ruiz de Burton, born in Baja California to an elite Californio family, became one of the first Mexican American novelists writing in English. Her life after the U.S.-Mexican War, including marriage to an American military officer and experience with dispossession under U.S. rule, deeply informed her critique of Anglo-American power. She wrote from the perspective of a bilingual, bicultural woman attentive to how conquest reshaped law, property, and identity. This novel is highly recommended for readers interested in early Mexican American literature, Civil War fiction, feminist satire, and the hidden political complexity of nineteenth-century American writing.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes.
- The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists.
- A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing.
- A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings.
- Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life.
- Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance.
- Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
Audiobook details
GenreGeneral Fiction, Historical Fiction
Length12 hrs 48 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateFeb 4, 2021
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
2Introduction
3Synopsis
4Historical Context
5CHAPTER I. THE ARRIVAL.
Show all chaptersShow less
6CHAPTER II. THE LITTLE BLACK GIRL.
7CHAPTER III. THE MYSTERIOUS BIG BOXES.
8CHAPTER IV. WHAT THE MYSTERIOUS BOXES CONTAINED.
9CHAPTER V. THE ROUGH PEBBLES.
10CHAPTER VI. LOLA COMMENCES HER EDUCATION.
11CHAPTER VII. LOLA'S MOTHER.
12CHAPTER VIII. THE TROPHIES OF MILTIADES DO NOT LET ME SLEEP."
13CHAPTER IX. POTATIONS, PLOTTING, AND PROPRIETY.
14CHAPTER X. HOW A VIRTUOUS MÅTRON WAS KEPT AWAKE.
15CHAPTER XI. MRS. NORVAL DID NOT ENJOY HER BUCKWHEAT-CAKES, AND JULIAN WOULDN'T WRITE ANY MORE POETRY.
16CHAPTER XII. SOMETHING ABOUT THE SPRIG PEDIGREE.
17CHAPTER XIII. WHAT MR. ISAAC SPRIG FOUND AT THE OFFICE. "DEAD-LETTER OFFICE"
18CHAPTER XIV. THE DOCTOR WAS REWARDED FOR LISTENING TO MR. HACKWELL'S SERMON.
19CHAPTER XV. MRS. NORVAL'S HIGH PRINCIPLES BEGIN THEIR WORK.
20CHAPTER XVI. "VENI, VIDI, VICI."
21CHAPTER XVII. JULIUS CÆSAR CACKLE, A MODERN DARIUS.
22CHAPTER XVIII. LAVINIA TO THE RESCUE.
23CHAPTER XIX. MRS. NORVAL'S HIGH PRINCIPLES ON THE RAMPAGE.
24CHAPTER XX. LAVINIA OUTDOES THE SPARTAN WOMEN.
25CHAPTER XXI. JULIAN AND HACKWELL INSPECT THE HORRID SPOTS.
26CHAPTER XXII. "THE AWFUL LITTLE BELL" DESCRIBED BY MRS. CACKLE.
27CHAPTER XXIII. "IT MAY BE FOR YEARS, AND IT MAY BE FOREVER."
28CHAPTER XXIV. LAVINIA'S EXPERIENCES IN WASHINGTON.
29CHAPTER XXV. AT THE CAPITOL.MR. CACKLE AT HOME.
30CHAPTER XXVI. "MUST ISAAC BE LEFT TO STARVE?"
31CHAPTER XXVII. NO, ISAAC SHALL NOT BE LEFT TO STARVE.
32CHAPTER XXVIII. MR. HACKWELL AND THE MADAM CONSOLE EACH OTHER.
33CHAPTER XXIX. LAVVY'S EXPERIENCE AS HOSPITAL NURSE.
34CHAPTER XXX. CAPTAIN HACKWELL BECOMES A HERO AND IS BREVETED.
35CHAPTER XXXI. THE MAJOR IS THE OBJECT OF GREAT SOLICITUDE.
36CHAPTER XXXII. MRS. NORVAL'S CONSCIENCE SPEAKS LOUDLY.
37CHAPTER XXXIII. MRS. NORVAL'S CONSCIENCE WAXES DICTATORIAL.-SHE OBEYS.
38CHAPTER XXXIV. MRS. NORVAL'S VIRTUOUS IMPULSE REWARDED.
39CHAPTER XXXV. MESSRS. WAGG AND HEAD TRAVEL TOGETHER.
40CHAPTER XXXVI. THE RETURNED PRISONERS, AND WHAT THEY SAID.
41CHAPTER XXXVII. MRS. NORVAL'S MENTAL DEBUT.
42CHAPTER XXXVIII. IN WHICH THE MAJOR, LIKE YORICK, WAS A FELLOW OF INFINITE HUMOR.
43CHAPTER XXXIX. JULIAN CARRIES THE WAR INTO AFRICA.
44CHAPTER XL. THE MAJOR'S STAFF.
45CHAPTER XLI. ISAAC IN THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
46CHAPTER XLII SHAKE NOT THY GORY LOCKS AT ME. THOU CANST NOT SAY I DID IT."
47CHAPTER XLIII. ISAAC IN THE LAND OF THE AZTECS.
48CHAPTER XLIV. BOUND FOR THE UNITED STATES.
49CHAPTER XLV. HOW JULIAN'S PATRIOTIC SONG WAS CUT SHORT.
50CHAPTER XLVI. "OH, ROMEO, WHERE ART THOU? "JE PLEURE, ET LE ROI S'AMUSE!"
More from María Ruiz de Burton
Searching For ThanksgivingS.E. Smith4h 24m$20
Naughty 4Brenda Hampton7h 30m$17
The Dance with Me TrilogyShelley Shepard Gray21h 44m$35
Anne Shirley (Complete 14 Book Collection)Lucy Maud Montgomery125h 28m$2 · $0.00
The DopemanJaQuavis Coleman5h 25m$20
Sherlock Holmes: The Ultimate CollectionArthur Conan Doyle59h 49m$5 · $0.00
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.4 (21)$29 · $0.00
Grand Opening 2Carl Weber9h 16m$20
Sons of Valor II: Violence of ActionBrian Andrews, Jeffrey Wilson12h 34m$23
Malevolent MagicMildred Abbott7h 13m$17
Bikes, Toys, and Hot BoyzGenesis Woods, Shantaé13h 9m$23
This Side of Paradise - The Original 1920 Edition (Annotated)F. Scott Fitzgerald11h 30m$2 · $0.00
War LordBernard Cornwell13h 21m$33 · $0.00
Ghetto BastardK’wan7h 37m$20
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m$18 · $0.00
The Vineyard BrideKatie Winters5h 5m$15
The Fyodor Dostoyevsky Complete CollectionFyodor Dostoyevsky266h 5m5.0 (1)$200 · $0.00
Something Like LoveBeverly Jenkins10h 21m5.0 (1)$29 · $0.00
Anne Of Green Gables: Complete 8-Book Box SetL.M Montgomery74h 55m$1 · $0.00
Black History CollectionFrederick Douglass, Harriet Ann Jacobs, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois27h 9m$18 · $0.00
The Labyrinth of the SpiritsCarlos Ruiz Zafon27h 55m$53 · $0.00
MusashiEiji Yoshikawa53h 20m$30
The Eighth Life (for Brilka)Nino Haratischwili41h 10m$53 · $0.00
War and Peace - The Unabridged Maude Translation (Annotated)Leo Tolstoy64h 48m$2 · $0.00
The Things We Cannot SayKelly Rimmer13h 48m$33 · $0.00
Their Castilian OrphanAnna Belfrage14h 45m$27
Lieutenant Hornblower (Annotated)C. S. Forester11h 41m$2 · $0.00
The Complete 13 Novels & longer fiction: Treasure Island, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Black Arrow, Kidnapped, The Master of Ballantrae, The Wrong Box and more...Robert Louis Stevenson106h 29m$1 · $0.00
Eagles over BritainLee Jackson12h 26m$23
Rilla of InglesideLucy Maud Montgomery11h 44m$2 · $0.00
The Viennese DressmakerKathryn Gauci11h 46m$23 · $0.00
The Man in the Brown Suit & They Came to BaghdadAgatha Christie15h 43m$33 · $0.00
Under the Light of the Italian MoonJennifer Anton12h 28m$23 · $0.00
THE COMPLETE PALLISER NOVELS (All 6 Novels in One Edition)Anthony Trollope172h 46m$2 · $0.00
Jubilee, 50th Anniversary EditionMargaret Walker15h 43m$25 · $0.00
Arch of TriumphErich Maria Remarque15h 51m$28
Serenade for NadiaZülfü Livaneli9h 9m$20
Pride and PrejudiceJane Austen14h 44m$2 · $0.00
Flying Colours (Annotated)Cecil Louis Troughton Smith9h 26m$2 · $0.00
Zane Grey - Ultimate Collection: 60+ Western Classics, Historical Novels & Baseball StoriesZane Grey567h 15m$1 · $0.00
You may also like
Comedies by Holberg : Jeppe of the Hill, The Political Tinker, Erasmus MontanusLudvig Holberg6h 11m$2 · $0.00
The Nightwatchman’s Occurrence Book, and Other Comic InventionsV. S. Naipaul19h 39m$30
Patronage (Annotated)Maria Edgeworth28h 8m$2 · $0.00
Twilight SleepEdith Wharton9h 18m$2.40
Bob, The PhotographerEdward Stratemeyer4h 15m$2.40
John Halifax, Gentleman (Annotated)Dinah Craik22h 23m$2 · $0.00
High-Society and Clerical Scandals – 3 Classic Social Satire NovelsWilliam Makepeace Thackeray, Anthony Trollope94h 23m$1
Tono-Bungay (Annotated)H. G. Wells17h 8m$2 · $0.00
The Complete Short Stories of Saki (Annotated)Saki, H. H. Munro27h 3m$2 · $0.00
Episodes in Van Bibber's LifeRichard Harding Davis0m$2 · $0.00
Ginx's Baby: His Birth and Other Misfortunes; a SatireEdward Jenkins3h 13m$2 · $0.00
The Complete Novels of Sinclair Lewis (Annotated)Sinclair Lewis261h 49m$3 · $0.00
Uncle DynamiteP. G. Wodehouse7h 45m$17
Castle Rackrent (Annotated)Maria Edgeworth5h 35m$2 · $0.00
The Old House and Other Short StoriesAnton Chekhov3h 53m$2.30
The Parisians — CompleteBaron Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton27h 45m$2 · $0.00
Heartbreak HouseGeorge Bernard Shaw5h 30m$2.30 · $0.00
Two PoetsHonoré de Balzac7h$1 · $0.00
The Entail; or, The Lairds of GrippyJohn Galt17h 26m$2 · $0.00
A Modest ProposalJonathan Swift24m$6 · $0.00