Simple Popularity

Obviously one of things readers liked about Fanny Fern was her candor. She said it like it was, no beating around the bush. Fanny Fern was frank and probably a refreshing change from the writings that women (and men) were used to . Ruth Hall was quite a change from George Eliot's Middlemarch. We see the difference in the writing, no flowery writing in Ruth Hall, and no flowery writing in Fanny Fern's "Fern Leaves." Women were just beginning to demand their rights to be educated as men were educated, but there were probably still a lot of women who had very little formal education. This type of writing surely appealed to these women more so than the very descriptive novels like Middlemarch."Fern Leaves" most likely had mass appear because it was easy to understand. The information contained in the stories was practical too! The type of advice that Fern gives, like being careful that your husband doesn't think of you as simply a "upper servant or housekeeper" (2102). If you feel like he is treating you like his maid,  just keep your "strings and buttons and straps on," and treat him like he is your employer. That is women's liberation! These women were probably starved for this kind of advice. From reading Ruth Hall, the men obviously thought it was refreshing too.