by nava atlas | on November 11, 2017 | updated October 5, 2021 | comments (1)
if you’ve read margaret mitchell‘s 1000+ page magnum opus multiple times but can’t get enough of it, consider exploring these prequels and sequels to go with the wind. expand on the stories of the complicated characters that have gripped the imagination for decades, since the book was first published in 1936.
gwtw had already made a book of the month club selection for itself when it burst onto the scene and advance sales were remarkable for a first novel by such an unknown author, particularly for a book of this length.
You are reading: Books about gone with the wind
America was still gripped by the Great Depression, and the public clearly needed some distraction. it’s hard to argue that the book was an instant publication phenomenon.
The public embraced the book despite mixed reviews. some critics hailed the novel as a masterpiece, some hailed it as America’s war and peacein its depiction of human events against the backdrop of a national cataclysm.
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Gone with the Wind (1939 film) . . . . . . . . . . .
other reviews were quite critical. ralph thompson wrote in the new york times review of the book that she thought it was 500 pages too long and found the plot “unconvincing and rather absurd”. p>
The public made its own decision. a million copies were sold in the first year alone, and continued to sell in large numbers for decades to come. no wonder some novelists were intrigued enough to keep the story going or to imagine backstories.
All that said, if you link to the pages featuring the following books on amazon, you’ll find that readers have had mixed reactions. in this case, you may want to look them up in your library before making an investment.
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scarlett by alexandra ripley (2007)
More about Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley on Bookshop.org* and on Amazon*
This authorized sequel takes readers back to Tara and picks up the story where the original left off. The reader will meet again Scarlett, Rhett, Ashley, Suellen, Mammy and other original characters.
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Will Scarlett and Rhett be able to resume their passionate but stormy marriage and love story? Will Scarlett be able to reconcile her complicated feelings for Ashley?
No matter how you feel about how Ripley portrays the post-Civil War South and the original cast of characters, fans of GWWW can get another dose of Scarlett’s world. As the description on Amazon describes it, “Rich in surprises at every turn and emotional and breathtaking new adventures, scarlett satisfies our longing to re-enter the world of Gone with the Wind. . ”
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the wind is gone by alice randall (2002)
the wind is gone by alice randall at amazon*
Although this provocative book was presented as a parody (an unauthorized one, to be clear), Mitchell’s estate was initially granted an injunction to block its publication. The trust that owns the copyright to Gone with the Wind sued to block publication, accusing Randall of “wholesale theft of main characters.”
The publisher appealed, and the first amendment apparently prevailed. readers were very mixed on this one! A review in the san antonio express-news summarizes why mitchell’s estate opposed the book:
“alice randall exploits the world created in gwtw, a job that more than any other has defined our image of the antebellum south.
Tying hard to the whitewashed, romantic mythology perpetrated by this southern classic, Randall has cleverly conceived a multi-layered and emotionally complex story of his own: that of cynara, the mulatto half-sister, who, beautiful and dark-haired and born into slavery , manages to break away from the harmful world of the old south to emerge into full life as a daughter, a lover, a mother, a victor.”
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donald mccaig’s ruth’s journey (2015)
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ruth’s journey by donald mccaig at bookshop.org* and amazon*
In Donald McCaig’s Vision, subtitled A Mammy Novel by Margaret Mitchell Gone with the Wind, Mammy is reimagined as Ruth. Her portrayal of Ella’s character is deeper and more nuanced in both the book and the faithful 1939 film.
Ruth is as strong-willed in this prequel as she is in her performance of Gone with the Wind, but the author imagines how she ends up where she ends up: with the O’Hara family, first with Scarlett’s mother. ellen, and then as a servant, really a slave, for scarlett.
This story spans from the 1820s to the start of the Civil War. The publisher presents it as “a remarkable story of strength, heartbreak, and indomitable will, and a story that will forever illuminate your reading of Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind.”
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the people of rhett butler (2014)
the people of rhett butler by donald mccaig at bookshop.org* and amazon*
another gwtw-themed novel by donald mccaig that re-imagines the life of ruth aka mammy, this one is subtitled “the authorized novel based on margaret mitchell gone with the wind”.
this time it expands on the life of rhett butler. the reader gets his backstory and meets the family he comes from.
Her best friend is an emancipated slave, and we even meet more of Belle Watling, the “lady of the night” with a heart of gold that Scarlett was so wary of. The story overlaps with the original novel in that the reader meets Scarlett and we are drawn into her complex relationship of two people more alike than they care to admit, and whose pride sometimes gets in the way of their love. .
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