premise: I shed quarts of tears while writing it , and the other girls shed gallons while I read it .<br>Jane Andrews ' mother scolded her frightfully because she had so many handkerchiefs in the wash that week .<br>It 's a harrowing tale of the wanderings of a Methodist minister 's wife .
hypothesis: Many of the readers were lacrimose.
reason: Lacrimose means crying or teary; the readers are described this way. Computer probably doesn't know the synonym