 "The Wide, Wide World" adheres to the basic plot of most women's fiction novels of the time, which, as Nina Baym describes the genre in "Woman's Fiction", involves "the story of a young girl who is deprived of the supports she had rightly or wrongly depended on to sustain her throughout life and is faced with the necessity of winning her own way in the world.” 

"Published at the end of 1850, "The Wide, Wide World" by Susan Warner went through fourteen editions in two years, and may ultimately have been as popular as "Uncle Tom's Cabin" with 19th century American readers".Although it was first rejected by many publishers, Warner's first novel became an instant sensation among its readers.The novel paints an excellent picture of the Victorian era of the United States, and so the readers of the time appreciated its relevancy to their own lives.