The Squatter and the Don (AmazonClassics Edition)

By: María Amparo Ruiz de Burton

Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon

In a social-reform novel decades ahead of its time, María Amparo Ruiz de Burton delivered a sharp condemnation of the United States’ marginalization of Californios in the decades following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

The Mexican American War has ended, but in a California divided between two nations, Anglo squatters continue to antagonize citizens of Mexican descent by making claims on their land. Against this charged backdrop, the lives of the Alamar family - the rightful owners of a San Diego ranch - become politically, economically, and romantically entwined with a family of New England settlers, the Darrells.

Inspired by experiences in her own life, Ruiz de Burton insightfully captured a troubling time in American history - a period of intense corruption, greed, racism, and classism. And after more than a century, the novel’s themes resonate as strongly as the powerful love story at its heart.

Revised edition: Previously published as The Squatter and the Don, this edition of The Squatter and the Don (AmazonClassics Edition) includes editorial revisions.

Public Domain (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Historical Omniscience

Ruiz Burton brings to light the brutal colonialism in California after the Mexican American war. She also condemns with ferocity monopoly capitalism in the United States. Her characters live the lives deeply affected by claim jumpers (land theft) from Californios who, under the divorce treaty guaranteed their former landholdings. She decries the despicable corruption of lawyers and judges, and then the excruciating machinations of Congress in undermining treaty terms with absurd stipulations. She lambasts the Monopoly railroad , tycoons Stanford and Huntington, who refuse a rail link between Texas and San Diego thereby undermining southern Californian and Texan future aspirations, leading to the impoverishment of hundreds of thousands of Americans, and subverting trade with Mexico. And, as Ruiz Burton explains, just for money. Money. Money. And more Money.

The injustice committed against the Mexicans in California by white squatters/settlers.

It was sad listening how honorable people were taken advantage of by unscrupulous people back in the late 1800s. Sadly, things have not changed much.

THE SQUATTER AND THE DON NARRATION

TIMOTHY ANDRES PABON NARRATED THE BOOK THE SQUATTER AND THE DON WRITTEN BY MARIA AMPARO RUIZ DE BURTON.

California History

Not included in the audio version is the historically accurate and informative fifty-one page introduction.