I find it very interesting that so many class members have found Who Would Have Thought It? to be such a tedious and frustrating read. I have loved every minute of it! This woman has got spunk! I have found myself laughing out loud at frequent intervals throughout the novel, mostly out of appreciation for Ruiz de Burton’s unrelenting boldness. Her tone is so blatantly bitter and cynical, and yet some of her criticisms are so subtle that she manages to achieve a certain harmony within the text. I have read certain chapters multiple times and from each additional reading, I take something different away. The fact that she dared to write something so politically inflammatory and outwardly critical of her society in 1872 warrants a great deal of respect. For a woman to write a novel as opinionated and socially critical as Who Would Have Thought It? would be a bold move today. For her to have proclaimed such a strong message at a time of such widespread narrow-mindedness, therefore, was no less than courageous.

I find it ironic that Rosaura Sànchez and Beatrice Pita’s introduction mentions Ruiz de Burton’s concern that readers would “find fault with her text” (vii). Not only does she raise a multitude of insightful points, but she expresses them in a very eloquent manner. I particularly enjoy the use of Greek mythological characters for the names of her own characters. I love the melodramatic characters, I love the sarcasm and I love the extent to which the novel condemns the horrendously racist viewpoints of the late ninteenth century. So far I say well done, Ruiz de Burton, and I look forward to the rest of the novel!