Gone With the Wind, it is Not
I must say that I was disappointed. The writing style and the historical detail were good, although, the book did drag in a couple parts. I also found that McCaig wrapped up all of the loose ends, without leaving anything to the imagination. I find it hard for the characters to live on in the world of my imagination, when an author wraps up everything so neatly.
Some of the characters seemed to be written out of character. Melanie Wilkes is a big example of this. She was still the loving, meek woman she was in Gone With the Wind; however, Craig has us believe that she wrote intimate letters to a girl friend about sex. Mitchell’s Melanie would never have done this.
I did enjoy McCaig’s take on some of the minor characters, such as Wade and Belle. However, if you haven’t read Gone With the Wind and only saw the movie, you won’t know whom some of these minor characters, such a Wade, are.
I am not sorry that I read Rhett Butler’s People. It was worthwhile and I enjoyed it for the most part. In my opinion, it is not a work of literature that will stand the test of time like Gone With the Wind has.
3/5
Don’t think I’ll rush out to buy it. After Scarlett *shudder*, I’m wary of Mitchell fanfic.
I didn’t care for Scarlett either. The reason I had high hpes for this one, is that it was authorized by the Mitchell estate. That implyed to me that someone from her estate read over drafts and gave input. Now I don’t think that’s the case or if it was, it was read over and approved without to much care of keeping the characters same integrity that Mitchell gave them.
Truth to tell, I wouldn’t rush out to buy it, in hind sight. LOL!
I’ve heard this book sucks and that Scarlett is especially out of character. I also heard belle and Scarlett become friends? Outrageous, that never would have happened in MM’s story. I don’t believe Rhett would have fought a duel over Belle either. I probably won’t read this for a long time-if ever. This is sad, I do so love GWTW.
Hi Kendra,
I thought of you hen this book came out, seeing as your GWTW’s number 1 fan.
It is really disappionting and knowing you, I don’t think you would like it. It’s so sad.
I think you should write a sequeal to GWTW. I’m sure you would stick true to the characters.
Teddy
I’ve just bought the audio book version of this book, and look forward to finding out what happens in it, even though I’m prepared for it to be nowhere near as good as GWTW.
I read a sequel Scarlett and thought it was okay. I came across this one at a flea market but decided against it. Looks like I made the right choice from your review here.
Margaret, I read Scarlett as well. Like you said, it was okay.
I read his book “Ruth’s Journey: The Authorized Novel of Mammy from Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind”. I really like this book.