First published in November 1854, "Ruth Hall" (AKA "Ruth Hall: A Domestic Tale of the Present Time") is an autobiographical novel by Fanny Fern (pen name of Sara Payson Willis), a popular 19th-century newspaper writer.
The novel is divided into ninety short chapters and, as the author states in the preface, this work does not follow the conventional rules of novel writing in 1855. The story follows the life of Ruth Hall, a woman who becomes a widow at a very young age and is forced to create a life for herself and her children that defies the conventional rules of society. The autobiographical novel can be divided into three phases: Ruth's happy marriage, impoverished widowhood, and rise to fame and financial independence as a newspaper columnist.
