Rating  - A great read for non-GWTW fanatics
For the past 24 hours I have been immersed in this fantastic book. It would be incorrect to call this a "sequel" for it is not. It is better than some sequel. Instead it is a retelling of the same story we all know and love but from a new point of view... the POV of the mysterious and charming Rhett Butler.
We learn who Rhett was. Where he came from. The novel begins when Rhett is a boy. We learn about his family, both current and the scandals of the past that led to who he became. We learn all about the Watling family and how Belle Watling came to be a part of Rhett's life and why he was involved with her. We learn how and why Rhett came to be at Twelve Oaks that day, how he fell in love with Scarlett on first sight, before he even knew who she was. We learn why he was in the library, "hiding", when Scarlett begged Ashley to love her.
And we learn about others too. We learn of Ashley's motivations -- did he ever love Scarlett? why did he choose Melanie? And why did Melanie always defend Scarlett? Was she just stupid? The Wilkes family plays a big role in this novel. We learn of Rhett's enduring love for his sister Rosemary. We learn about Aunt PittyPat, we learn about the Watling family, and more.
Best of all... the story doesn't end when Rhett walks out on Scarlett and she vows to get him back. We learn what happened to Rhett, where he goes and what he does. We learn about Scarlett, going back to Tara, and what happens there.
This novel is not written by some hack. The author has written other novels on the Civil War and won awards for these. He was chosen by the Margaret Mitchell Estate to write Rhett's story. This is the AUTHORIZED version.
I've only read Gone With the Wind once, but this novel fleshes out so many incidents not fully explained in the book. I've seen the movie so very many times, like many American women, northern and southern. I felt like I knew every bit of it.
This book makes me want to see it again. It would be like a whole new movie, and I would know all the secret bits not explained.
Though I read a lot, I am very picky about books. It's hard for me to find a book that i think is really good, especially in fiction. It's been so long since I picked up a book and fell into it and barely come up for air. I stayed up all night reading, then fell asleep most of the day, woke up this evening, picked it back up and read until I was done.
If you are a huge fan of the novel Gone With the Wind, you may find much to dislike here. But I found it a fascinating read and very well written. I really enjoyed reading it.
Rating  - FRANKLY, YOU SHOULD NOT GIVE A DAMN
Rhett Butler should challenge the Margaret Mitchell estate to a duel for the insult of this book! Why can't they leave GONE WITH THE WIND alone? First there was SCARLETT by Alexandra Ripley, which was as exciting as listening to Ashley Wilkes read the Atlanta phone book. Then there was the "unauthorized" parody THE WIND DONE GONE, by Alice Randall, which told the GWTW story told from the viewpoint of a slave on Tara, Mammy's daughter. The best thing about that novel was its length (short).
And now we have RHETT BUTLER'S PEOPLE, which covers Rhett's life from 1843 to 1874. Donald McCaig, author of the award winning Civil War novel, JACOB'S LADDER, spent six years researching and writing the "authorized" novel for the Margaret Mitchell estate. He delivered the chapters to his editors as he finished them. The lawyers for the Mitchell estate were then invited to weigh in with criticism.
"It was a rocky road," Mr. McCaig said with understatement. "There were a lot of people involved and a lot of different needs. It's a much more complex environment than most novels are written in."
And it shows. The book begins with the most stereotypical scene in all
antebellum fiction - the duel at dawn, two men meeting of the field of honor. That is as creative as the novel gets. The narration of the first chapters is confusing. Several characters are introduced quickly and
the author offers little help for the reader to identify the speakers in long sections of dialogue. By the time the duel happens, it is very anti-climatic since it is déjà vu for anyone who has read any other Civil War era novel.
McCaig was not the Mitchell's estate first choice as author. They had approached Pat Conroy, author of THE PRINCE OF TIDES and THE LORD OF DISCIPLINE. As a Southern writer who is based in the Charleston area, Conroy would have been an intriguing choice. However, Mr. Conroy had reservations about the authorial freedom that the estate's lawyers would give him and withdrew from negotiations. Mr. Conroy publicly joked that he would open his sequel with this line: "After they made love, Rhett turned to Ashley Wilkes and said, `Ashley, have I ever told you that my grandmother was black?'"
For those who long for a return trip to Tara ... go back and read Margaret Mitchell's 1937 Pulitzer Prize winning novel. It is still great.
Rating - Too Much Tragedy
I'm thinking maybe this should be a blog, not a review, but here goes. I passed the book up several times before buying it. I should have passed it up totally. There will be spoilers in this review because they are part of my problem with the book.
First I started the book in the frame of mind that it was a sequal, or prequal. When the characters lacked depth and continuity to the first book, I tried to read it for it's own merit. The characters were shallow. The events that were important in GWTW were glossed over quickly and poorly written. Ashley the dreamer became Ashley the wimp. I did think that Rhett's sister Rosemary made a good match for him eventually.
M. Mitchell said that GWTW was about survival. This book lost that quality and the characters had no mystery, in many casses their whole personality changed. I was totally disgusted by the senseless death of Will Banteen and the burning of Tara. After all of the misery and tradgedy faced by every single character,this author had the gaul to write a happily ever after ending. I also noticed that where Scarlett always returned to Tara, in GWTW, in this book she always returned to Miss Pittypat's. Go figure? I was disappointed in the book, but something drew me to finish it. I think I kept looking for redemption.
Rating - Much Better than Scarlett
After reading Scarlett a few years ago, I hesitated to get this book for fear of how it would play on my favorite book, Gone with the Wind. This book, however, is pretty good in that it is about Rhett and not a replay of Gone with the Wind. We learn to understand him so much better through this book and even if you didn't know the original story, could read this as a good stand alone book. But, if you do know the story this helps to enrich it!
Rating  - Interesting insight into Rhett Butler's character
As a fan of "GWTW" -- first the movie, as a 13-year-old, and then the book -- I detested the so-called "sequel" to it: "Scarlett". (What an awful book! It should never have been published. I threw my copy in the trash when I finished it.) So when "Rhett Butler's People" was published, I hesitated to even read it. I was pleasantly surprised -- at least insofar as Rhett was concerned. Learning of Rhett's unhappy childhood on a Charleston plantation with an unloving and brutal father rang true. (Yes, I am a Charlestonian, and yes, there are still stories told about fathers and sons such as Butler and Son.) It explained Rhett's diffidence in certain relationships, as well as his self-confidence in others. (I refer to the film version of "Rhett".) It was also an interesting take on Rhett's relationship with Belle Watling. The awful scene where Rhett's childhood friend faces a lynch mob, and Rhett's intervention, also rings true. As for the rest of the characters (Melanie, Scarlett, and others) -- well, I'll stick to "GWTW" for insight into them!
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