Scarlett: The Sequel to Margaret Mitchell's "Gone with the Wind"

OK, so I'm quoting the movie there (Ashley to Scarlett in the library at Twelve Oaks). But I wanted to start this review with being fair.Those reviewers who say things like "Alexandra Ripley sucks" or "she can't write" are not being fair. I have read a few of her older works, namely "Charleston" and its sequel, "On Leaving Charleston," and enjoyed them. They are good, well-researched historical fiction that maybe veer slightly a bit more toward romance than I tend to like, but I would call them good. And while we're being fair, those reviewers who call the late Ms. Ripley a "Yankee" are VERY much mistaken. She was born in Charleston and her writing, even in "Scarlett," shows a deeper affinity for and native cultural understanding of that city than few other fiction writers have ever displayed.Would many of us, especially us writers, have turned down the opportunity she had? (Raise your hand if worship of the original would have kept you from taking on a project that would have ensured you'd be set for life financially. I'm not sure I can raise mine, but if you can, well, bully for you!)So while I do only provide a one-star review, I do want to countermand the cries of "she sucks" or "this book sucks," for the reasons stated above.Further, reviewers who have not actually read "Gone with the Wind" (not just seen the movie -- for this argument, it doesn't matter how many times you've seen the movie) hopefully understand that the book has many differences, many additional nuances, and MANY other elements which didn't make it into the film.I won't attempt to justify my opinion by saying how many times I've read the book; no one would believe me if I did. Suffice it to say I know the book.Scarlett, for all her common sense or "horse sense" and resourcefulness, is a deeply unintellectual woman. And like many people of her place and time, had a view of non-Americans that bordered on the phobic. GWTW spells this out very clearly in lines of dialogue in early chapters of the book, when either Charles Hamilton or Ashley Wilkes says of Rhett Butler, "He looks like one of the Borgias." To which Scarlett immediately replies, "I don't know them. Is he kin to them?" And upon being told the Borgias were Italian, says "Oh. Foreigners." In another line of dialogue, she confuses references to Rome and Athens with the towns of Rome, Georgia, and Athens, Georgia. In many ways she's very ignorant, with little desire to know the wider world. She's also scantily educated; GWTW tells us that in the first chapter. Would this character up and go to Ireland? I very much think not, one, and two, knowing her single-mindedness, doubt very seriously that she would have gone that far outside Rhett Butler's orbit.Margaret Mitchell's Scarlett was no doubt a great character, but Margaret Mitchell was also not first or alone in creating a character like this ("Vanity Fair"'s Becky Sharp comes to mind, and I am not original in saying that). Rhett Butler, however, is a wonderfully complex character, and it's for the drawing of him, not Scarlett, that I most tip my hat to Margaret Mitchell. He's not just a swarthy dude who carries people upstairs. He's full of a kind of anguish only GWTW portrays -- he is absolutely diminished in "Scarlett," and while I personally like the idea that he wants to nurture decades-old camellia plants, do not believe that a character could do such a turnabout as we're expected to believe in this book. I CERTAINLY don't believe he'd have ever married again.GWTW's greatest strength, however, in my opinion, dwells in two areas: its incredibly large tapestry of characters, big and small, and its ability to inhabit a time (admittedly from the white southern point of view only -- a big and oftly and rightly criticized problem with GWTW). "Scarlett" does neither ... and Ms. Ripley even said in interviews that she didn't want to take on the Reconstruction-Era South, and so she didn't. A shame and a missed opportunity, but I don't know that she would have been the author to tackle that. And much as I'd love to see that done, were an author to truly take on those themes, the result would be just as dissimilar to GWTW as "Scarlett" is. Because GWTW has plenty of problems of its own when it comes to exploring race and place and time from the perspective of anyone outside Scarlett O'Hara's race and class.And once again, while I do leave a one-star review of the book itself, I hate seeing remarks that suggest that a deceased writer, who did have a very successful career and who did write some good books, should be associated with a word like "sucks." "Sucks" has got to be one of the most puerile and insanely subjective words in the world, and Alexandra Ripley doesn't deserve it.So if you don't like "Scarlett," don't like it and write a bad review of it as I have. Dismiss it from the GWTW canon as I have, and forget it ever existed, as I have. Margaret Mitchell didn't want a sequel; we all know that. A very capable writer got the opportunity to try it; how many of us can honestly say we could have done better? If someone "sucks," it's not the late Ms. Ripley, but the Mitchell Estate for being so acquisitive and grasping that they wanted to see this done in the first place.

I simply never get tired of reading this book. Margaret Mitchell couldn’t have done better. Glad to have in my library so I can reread as much as I like.

I've read this book as a child (yes, as a child), and into my teens hundreds of times, once I discovered it on my parents bookshelves. Every time I felt hopeless, alone, scared, weak... I would read this book. It filled me with courage and hope. It inspired me.I lost that book when I moved away and now I'm 40 and going through some tough times, feeling just as hopeless and scared as I did as a child.... and I felt the urge to pick it up again.It is still just as relevant to me as it was back then when I snuggled under the covers with a flashlight in the deep hours of the night to read about Scarlett, her courage, her short comings, her worthiness of love regardless, her hardships, her discovery of herself, and her place in the world...This book will always be special to me <3

First of all I apologise in advance for the length of this review. I am from the South and I grew up less than 2 hours away from Atlanta Georgia, in my house there were always two books on our coffee table at all times, The Bible and Gone With The Wind. I've read Margaret Mitchell's classic so many times I know it cover to cover. I've known about this sequel for quite a few years now, but I never felt inclined to read it partly bc for a long time I wanted to leave Rhett Scarlett and their world where the creator Margaret left them. As I've gotten older, I've returned to Gone With the Wind periodically and i finally decided to give this book a try. I told myself if I wasn't into the story by the end of the first chapter I would put it down and in all honesty, I didn't expect to like it at all. I didn't think anyone else could continue such a legendary story other than the original writer. I was pleasantly surprised and glad to have been proved wrong Ms. Ripley does a fantastic job of curbing her own writing style to match Margaret's and she perfectly captures the spirit of Scarlett and of Rhett. It did not feel like a book written by someone else. It simply felt like a continuation of the story.I cried. I laughed. I bit my nail to the quick and I truly could not put it down. I personally got an immense amount of satisfaction in seeing these characters I hold so near and dear to my heart evolve and become deeper and more layered and I appreciate that she chose to pick up the story's timeline right where the original book left off, it helped close the gap between the two books and made you really feel as though one person had written both. I won't ruin the story with spoilers but I will say that the story takes Scarlett and Rhett to places physically and emotionally that you'd never expect and although the old south will always be a huge part of this story no matter who is writing it, Ms. Ripley also manages to take these characters you love so much to new heights and better places. It will never be the original and it isn't meant to be, it's meant to continue the story as if Margaret Mitchell was writing it herself and she accomplished that and so much more.This is a fantastic read, easily the best book I've read in years. I'm only sorry it took me so long to finally give it a chance.I find that my deep love for the world of Gone with the Wind is shared with tons of people and many people grew up with it on their coffee tables just as I did. If that's the case and you too don't believe this sequel will do it justice I'm here to tell you, it goes above and beyond expectations. If you've ever wished the story of Scarlett and Rhett had continued, please read this. It's absolutely wonderful. Happy Reading!

There have been other spin off novels for GWTW, but this one is by far the best of the bunch , sticks to the plot follows on from the original very nicely and is at several points unputdownable.Does Scarlett get her man, well you'll have to read it to find out, but a little tip DO NOT SKIP TO THE LAST PAGE, you will regret t doing that.Scarlett continues her journey into a new land and culture and come out holding her head high.Very good reading

I read this years ago and am looking forward to reading it again.

I haven't finished it yet. It might be me but I am finding the characters very irritating so I will reserve judgement until I have.

Love it, continues right from the end of Gone With the Wind

Nothing against the author who is a decent writer, but I feel this story should have ended with the original Gone With the Wind. I was interested at first to read a continuation of the story but it could not compare with the original and for me I feel the story should not have been continued.