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

by Alexandra Ripley

The timeless tale continues... The most popular and beloved American historical novel ever written, Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind is unparalleled in its portrayal of men and women at once larger than life but as real as ourselves. Now bestselling writer Alexandra Ripley brings us back to Tara and reintroduces us to the characters we remember so well: Rhett, Ashley, Mammy, Suellen, Aunt Pittypat, and, of course, Scarlett. As the classic story, first told over half a century ago, moves forward, the greatest love affair in all fiction is reignited; amidst heartbreak and joy, the endless, consuming passion between Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler reaches its startling culmination. Rich with surprises at every turn and new emotional, breathtaking adventures, Scarlett satisfies our longing to reenter the world of Gone With the Wind, and like its predecessor, Scarlett will find an eternal place in our hearts.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Romance, Classics, Historical, Historical Romance, Adult

823 pages, Unknown Binding

First published September 25, 1991

About the author

Alexandra Ripley was an American writer best known as the author of Scarlett, the sequel to Gone with the Wind. Her first novel was Who's the Lady in the President's Bed?. Charleston, her first historical novel, was a bestseller, as were her next books On Leaving Charleston, The Time Returns, and New Orleans Legacy. Scarlett received some bad reviews, but was very successful nonetheless. She attended the elite Ashley Hall, in Charleston, South Carolina, and Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York.

She died in Richmond, Virginia, and is survived by two daughters from her first marriage to Leonard Ripley, a son in law and granddaughter, Alexandra Elizabeth.

Ripley has also published works under the name B.K. Ripley.

Reviews

[Namrirru · Rating 2 out of 5]

Horrible, over-dramatised, unbelievable, a very bad, bad book.

A couple months ago, I was at Barnes and Noble. A Romanian girl was talking to her American friend about how she read Gone with the Wind in Romanian. Now she'd love to read it in English. She had a book in her hands, but it was not Gone with the Wind. It was Scarlett! I informed her that the book she was holding was not Gone with the Wind, but a sequel. A horrible sequel she would regret reading. Then I picked up the right book for her. I believe I did a good deed.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

"God's Nightgown" I enjoyed it, but REALLY wanted more Rhett!

The story begins with Melanie's funeral where SCARLETT makes a spectacle of herself comforting Ashley....."the cause of her life's destruction".....that exacerbates her isolation and ostracism from Atlanta society.

So.....a downhearted SCARLETT returns to her beloved Tara for comfort, but all is not well there either with an aged Mammy and Suellen as hateful as ever.

With constant thoughts of how to win back her only true love, the story takes us to a still occupied Charleston where Rhett makes a lucrative offer to be rid of her forever, but a frightening experience gives her hope once again.

"Rhett raised his head. I'm afraid, he said quietly, afraid that it will all begin again. I know that she's heartless and completely selfish, that she's like a child who cries for a toy and then breaks it once she has it. But there are some moments when she tilts her head at a certain angle, or she smiles that gleeful smile, or she suddenly looks lost......and I come close to forgetting what I know."

With a visit to Savannah, SCARLETT spends time with her Robillard and O'Hara relatives that lead her on quite an adventure across the ocean to a beautifully atmospheric Ireland. With fairies and Irish superstitions from days of old, shocking news of a Fenian Brotherhood, and the horror of All Hallows Eve, a self-absorbed, (and still gorgeous) but ambitious SCARLETT struggles to find a new life with dreams of what could have been with Rhett at her side.

Overall, the writing is good and even at 800+ pages, I was never bored, but there is much more SCARLETT than Rhett and I did have to stretch my imagination here and there plus live with an ending that was good, but felt rushed. 3.5 Stars for me with a round up to 4.0.

One final note: Similar, but better storyline than the movie (for me) with more characters, but in no way compares to GWTW. How could it?......."When Pigs Fly!"

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book in hardback for Christmas in 1991, shortly after it was first published. It was highly anticipated and, of course, there were folks lining up on both sides of the issue as to whether it could even hope to be a worthy follow-up to Margaret Mitchell's epic novel or whether it should be judged on its own merits as the continuation of Scarlett's and Rhett's story.

No one who loved GWTW can deny that he/she WANTED to know how the story of Scarlett and Rhett turned out. Margaret Mitchell left us hanging and more than 50 years later, the interest in this sequel was fever pitch. I started reading the book very early in the morning December 26, 1991, in the waiting room of Texas Children's Hospital where my oldest grandchild was undergoing hernia repair surgery. I was more than stressed and the book was the perfect distraction from the agony of waiting.

I enjoyed the continuation of the saga as written by Alexandra Ripley. I think she tuned into Scarlett's more mature self and spun a yarn worthy of her personality. I was happy that Scarlett finally realized how much she loved and needed Rhett. I believe Ms. Ripley took Scarlett along a path of growth we all wanted for her. And, finally... FINALLY... we get closure. Lord! It was 'way too long in coming!

[Rory · Rating 1 out of 5]

TRASH TRASH TRASH

the only thing more insulting than this book was Timothy Dalton as Rhett Butler!

[Dorothy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was so awful I sent it back to the publisher and demanded my money back. They sent it to me.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many have made the mistake of judging Scarlett by the horrible TV movie that was made from it. Please don't! This book is such a good read and really goes along with Margaret Mitchell's book. (Much was left out of the Gone With the Wind movie.)

Scarlett gives closure to Gone With the Wind fans. I've read it multiple times and have enjoyed it more each time. I definitely recommmend this book!

[Heidi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not only did I not like this book, I hated it! I fell in love with "Gone With the Wind" when I was little and watched the movie over and over with my aunts. When I finally read the book, it was one of the best I have ever read! I even fell in love with Margaret Mitchell's story and why she wrote the book.

When the made-for-tv "Scarlett" movie was made, I watched it with my sister. It wasn't the worst ever, but nothing to the original. I eventually read this book as well and thought it was written well, but veered so far from the first book, there is no way it could redeem itself. My friend claims that as a separate book, not seen as a sequel, it is a pretty good book. However, I have trouble seeing it separately as it is not at all what I would think Mitchell would want to happen. As its own story, it has no background and basis for the characters.

In conclusion, even though Ripley writes an okay story, she does not stay true to Mitchell's charcters.

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

As trash fiction, this was fun to read. As a sequel to GWTW it indeed gave closure; Scarlett is such a tragic character with so many flaws and strengths that it was sort of satisfying to see her finally figure out something approximating happiness.

That said, I didn't find it at all convincing. Scarlett may have realized her love for Ashley was a childish fantasy and her loves for Rhett and Melanie were real, but that doesn't mean that she would suddenly be able to throw off a lifetime of the behaviors and traumas that made her so closed and obstinate. I didn't find her transition from selfish to loving at all convincing: Ripley can plot a story arc, but her characters are pretty flat. She didn't do a good job moving Scarlett from psychic point A to point B.

[Joslyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I am a huge Gone With the Wind groupie. I think Clark Gable is the most gorgeous man ever and I want to be Vivan Leigh. I even own the Scarlett Collector's Item Barbie! Scarlett: A Sequel to Gone With the Wind is an amazing book. It picks up right where GWtW left off and never disappoints. It's about 880 pages, but I swear you never even notice. The storyline is believable and the plot has so many twists and turns that you're never bored. My only regret: It wasn't written early enough to make a good movie sequel : )

[Krystal · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the first book I remember being so anticipated, and dreaded at the same time. I didn't think anyone could do justice to the first story and thought they should leave well enough alone. Yet I had to read it the first chance I got, and it truly did suck, with as much force as a book can suck. The characters were watered down versions of their original glory, and Scarlet, though never an angel, was just this simpering fool of a woman that the original would never have put up with. Seriously, what the hell.

[Misfit · Rating 1 out of 5]

I guess everyone knows how Gone With the Wind ended, with Rhett walking out on Scarlett. Then the peeps in charge of the Margaret Mitchell estate caved in to stuffing their wallets reader demands for a sequel to hear the 'rest of the story'. And so Alexandra Ripley takes on the nearly impossible task of stepping into another author's shoes and making those characters her own.

So what happens?

Melly dies, Ashley wants to die with her, but Scarlett won't let him. Everyone in town shuns Scarlett so she decides to pack up and follow Rhett to Charleston and get her man back. Rhett still wants nothing to do with her, but his mother sure seems to take to Scarlett. Then we get lots and lots and lots of chapters about Charleston society and their ways of doing things and doing without and their balls and social season and stuff. We don't get much of anything going on between Rhett and Scarlett except the occasional pass in the night kind of meetings. Oh, and Rhett offers her a whole bunch of money (in gold) to just leave town and never come back - after the Season is over of course.

*yawn*

Then, something finally happens and there's a bit of a shipwreck and near death for our pair and you know what they did in the sand afterwards, don't you?

*nods*

Well, that scared Rhett a bit too much for comfort and he high-tails it out of town until Scarlett leaves, and that means going with her two elderly aunts to Savannah where she meets up with her grandfather on her mother's side. Oh, and then she finds her father's family - the O'Haras, who are a warm and loving bunch. A big bunch, since (no offense to the Irish intended) they breed as quick as rabbits and there are cousins and aunts and uncles and brothers and sisters and we get chapters and chapters and chapters of the family in Savannah, the family in Ireland and family picnics and other exciting stuff until Scarlett is talked into a visit to her grandmother in Ireland. Scarlett now has a bun-in-the-oven (surprise!) and she knows it's the way right back into Rhett's bed life, but since she's been assured Rhett can never, ever divorce her, Scarlett decides she wants a bit of freedom.

Fool

So...Scarlett and some of her new-found O'Hara relatives take ship to Ireland where Scarlett meets more and more and more cousins and aunts and uncles and the grandmother who was named after her. Just when she's getting ready to head home and claim her man, a letter arrives --->>>real spoiler a letter arrives informing Scarlett that 1) Rhett divorced on grounds of desertion and 2) he's remarried. . And since that's the case, she might as well stay in Ireland and rebuild the deserted O'Hara land and town and so the book goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on for like 400+ pages of details of farm life. There's a bit of drama over the use of the 'new' town and Irish rebels and bringing in illegal guns and all under Scarlett's nose, but that's just more boring stuff.

*yawn*

We do get a wee bit of drama when Scarlett's pregnancy doesn't go as well as her previous ones did, but then that's over and there's more endless pages on farm life and Irish rebellion plotting interspersed with Scarlett's jumping into the hunting set and English society in Ireland. Oh, and she makes a return trip to Georgia to sell off her assets and her boat on the way home stop in Charleston and she gets a glimpse of Rhett.

*yawn*

F.I.N.A.L.L.Y. in the very last pages, Rhett shows up (the wife died in childbirth, so he's free, but he reads about her engagement to this earl and gets butt hurt. Then there's this kerfuffle over the Irish rebels, the town burns and everyone's murdered, but Rhett is there to save Scarlett and their daughter and two or three pages of HEA.

The end. Don't bother. Kindle copy obtained via library loan, owned dead tree book making its way to the charity box as we speak.

[Tina Loves To Read · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a Historical Romance, and this is the second book in the Gone With the Wind series. I want to start by saying I loved Gone With the Wind, and Scarlett was my favorite character. I have to say I did not love this book, but I did not hate this book. I like the beginning and the end, but the middle was very slow moving and some parts was super boring. I wanted so much more for this book. (*)

[Amyelyse · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you have read Gone With The Wind you may be tempted to pick this up and "see what happens"...what happens is the author had about 16 ideas for Harlequin romances she never got around to fleshing out so she used them all for this...it's a mish mash of plot, she does sort of get the writing style of Mitchell... and she did mold the plots to the established characters somewhat deftly, but the plots and new characters are all very "brain candy romance" (which , hey I own a ton of and love...but this is Gone with the Wind...the grand dame of romantic stories...it deserves better effort)

The other problem is that while you may be curious to see what happens out of fondness for the characters, This book strives to give the story a "Happy Ending" the absence of which made the Original a work of Literary Art and not a romance novel.

[Karina · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay. It wasn't anything near 'Gone With the Wind'. It felt like Scarlett was over dramatized in every scene in the book. She was just a giant ball of nervousness and high energy. She didn't have the spunk and sassy-ness of the original Scarlett. It felt like a sad impostor and I'm a bit disappointed in the Margaret Mitchell estate okaying something like this but what do I know?

I did not enjoy it as much as I had hoped for and I'm not sure I could recommend it to those that LOVE 'Gone With the Wind.'

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

If GWTW had been written like this, this book would never have been written. There would have been no movie and no one would ever have heard of Vivien Leigh.

I started off with low expectations, and found that "Scarlett" was easy to read and reasonably entertaining. I knew from the start that it deserved no more than 2 1/2 stars but was planning to give it 3, because I was enjoying it. Like many, I really wanted to find out about "Act 2" of Scarlett and Rhett. When I first read GWTW, as a teenager, I just knew that they would overcome all and get back together. The more I read it, though, the less likely that seemed. Still, I hoped.

I remember hearing bad reviews when "Scarlett" came out, so I put off reading it. The reason I finally decided to read it was that my book group is reading GWTW, and some had expressed interest in this as well. Someone had even read it and recommended it (the guilty shall remain nameless).

"Scarlett" starts out at Melanie's funeral, and we see glimpses of familiar faces. They make their obligatory appearences and then they are forgotten and rarely or never mentioned again. We meet new characters, in Charleston, Savannah, and Ireland. Scarlett is on a New Age journey of self-discovery! These characters also appear briefly and disappear. When Scarlett visited her Grandfather Robillard, I thought perhaps V C Andrews had taken over the writing chore (fortunately, no attics were involved). Events are foreshadowed, then never come to pass. (Events that do occur are *heavily* foreshadowed.) Scarlett meets trial after trial, struggles and wrestles mightily with each, finds each too difficult to overcome, thinks "I'll think about that tomorrow" and--snap! all turns out well for no apparent reason. Events from GWTW are recycled with little change in description.

The character of Scarlett bothered me very much. She was not the same Scarlett we hated and loved. No, Scarlett was not nice. But she was interesting and had gumption. The new Scarlett had no edge. I thought the fact that Vivien Leigh played her in the original movie and Joanne Whalley in the TV show was appropriate. I tried to tell myself that we all change as we age and mature. But the truth is, unfortunately, the author did not understand the character as Margaret Mitchell did.

One other particular problem I had was when Scarlett "realizes" that her mother didn't love her. How could she, when she didn't allow Scarlett to express herself freely? Erm, well, perhaps Scarlett's mother understood the society that Scarlett would be moving in and gave her the tools to gain the best possible position in that society. How's that for love?

Oh, and perhaps the author should have read the first line of GWTW: "Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful...."

Finally, I just got tired of the book. I got tired of insipid Scarlett. I'm so glad I got it from the library. I didn't have to pay for it and it won't waste room on my bookshelf.

[Riannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok, this book was flat-out terrible. I read it because I LOVED Gone With the Wind, but in this book the characters aren't even recognizable as the same people, and do all sorts of well, just bizarre things. Scarlett goes to Ireland to get in touch with her roots, of all things. And she's always obsessing over Rhett and simpering. The real Scarlett was too self-absorbed to ever be like that!
Anyway, it's really sad for me to see one of the best literary masterpieces be sequelled by such a terrible B romance. No, make that a D romance.
So, if you read Gone With the Wind and have had your eye on the sequel, DON'T read it! You would be better off writing your own version of the sequel, which in fact I was tempted to do after reading this calamity because it couldn't possibly be worse.
And did I say don't read it?

[N · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like my review of “Gone With the Wind”- this review is based on muscle memory of how I felt about reading this as a kid.

I read this because I wanted to reenter the world of Scarlett O’Hara and see what could have happened after Rhett Butler deserted her. Ripley writes a novel that takes Scarlett out of Tara, and into the rolling lush countryside of Ballyhara, in Ireland where she connects with her Irish roots.

Though many might see this as an inferior novel to “GWTW”, it was still an exciting, romantic novel to a lonely kid like me growing up who longed to be swept away. It's lush, swoony, a bit on the cheesy side and does not focus on the legacy of slavery as much as its predecessor. I would say it's a fun read that shouldn't make for guilty pleasure.

[Cherie · Rating 2 out of 5]

At the time of publication many years ago, this was a highly anticipated novel, the sequel to Gone With the Wind. Everyone had to have a copy. It was the "Must Read" of the year. Everyone was so excited. I remember how disappointed I was reading this. The author clearly did not study the characters enough, and did not analyze Mitchell's writing. All my extended female family members read this, and we had lengthy discussions about the many disappointments in this novel.

[Brenda DiVincenzo · Rating 1 out of 5]

"What Were They Thinking?" when the estate of Margaret Mitchell agreed to publish this rag.

[Sana · Rating 1 out of 5]

همون به برباد رفته اکتفا میکردن بهتر بود میخواد صدسال سیاه رت برنگرده اشتباه بزرگی بود رفتم ادامشو خوندم🤦

[Mahdi · Rating 2 out of 5]

شاید اگه به عنوان یه کتاب مجزا از بربادرفته می‌خوندم انقدر ازش ناامید نمی‌شدم.
بربادرفته خیلی خوب بود و خیلی ازش لذت بردم اما اسکارلت نه... و دلیل دارم براش... بربادرفته به خاطر شخصیت‌پردازیش بود که جذاب بود. اسکارلت لوس و ننر که حتی جنگ هم نتونسته بود بزرگش کنه و فقط جهت تغییرش رو عوض کرد. اسکارلت به خاطر این جذاب بود که خیلی وقت‌ها نمی‌تونستی واکنشش رو حدس بزنی و سربزنگاه، وقتی منتظر بودی یک تصمیمی بگیره، یه تصمیم دیگه می‌گرفت. در مقابل رت به خاطر این هم تو دنیای ادبیات و هم سینما جذابه که شخصیت مرموزی داره. هیچ موقع دقیق چیزی ازش نمی‌دونیم. خانواده‌ش رو نمی‌بینیم... از کارهاش سردرنمیاریم... با همه حشر و نشر داره و از جنوبی‌ها و شمالی‌ها باهاش رابطه‌ی خوبی دارند. وقتی هم لازم می‌بینه برای خودش احترام جلب کنه، به راحتی می‌تونه به خواسته‌ش برسه.
اما اسکارلت ریپلی اینطوری نیست. اسکارلت از همون اول رمان یه عاقله‌زنه که بزرگ شده و چیزی برای تغییر نداره (البته یکی از دلایلش اینه که تو بربادرفته ما این رو دیدیم) اما به هر حال ما نمی‌تونیم اون روند تغییرش رو حس کنیم چون از اول داستان اسکارلت تغییر کرده... اسکارلت ریپلی خیلی محتاط‌تره و خیلی کم‌ریسک‌تر زندگی می‌کنه و برخلاف اسکارلت میچل که پر از سوپرایز و غرور بود یه زن تیپیکال عاشق‌پیشه است که بارها خودش رو کوچیک می‌کنه تا به عشقش برسه.
رت هم همینطور... دیگه اون شخصیت جذاب بربادرفته رو نداره... رت ریپلی به سادگی می‌شکنه، به سادگی ناامید می‌شه... با اون رتی که برای خواسته‌هاش تمام تلاشش رو می‌کنه کیلومترها فاصله داره... در ثانی تمام زندگی رت رو ریپلی روی دایره می‌ریزه و اون حس مرموز بودن رت رو ازش می‌گیره.
یه گله هم از ترجمه بکنم که افتضاح بود. متأسفانه نسخه‌ی انگلیسی پی‌دی‌افش رو پیدا نکردم اما بعید می‌دونم تو اصلش اینطور نوشته شده باشه. هر بار یک زنی با یک مردی خوابیده بود به کل کات شده بود و شما شاید 300، 400 صفحه بعد از یه طریق دیگه بفهمین چنین چیزی رخ داده... بعضی از این همخوابگی‌ها تو مسیر اصلی داستان هم قرار داره و روند داستان رو خدشه‌دار می‌کنه.

[Allison · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fanfiction.

[Regan Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

If You Only Saw the Movie…you must read this sequel to Gone With The Wind. It's a great love story!

After seeing the movie Gone With The Wind for the umpteenth time and once again being disappointed there was no happy ending (sorry you classic lovers, but the ending where Scarlett says she’ll find a way to win Rhett back just begs for the rest of the story!), I was glad there was a sequel. It was commissioned by Margaret Mitchell’s estate and the author selected in a competition.

SCARLETT satisfies the romance lover’s need for the ending we crave. It tells us what happened to Scarlett and Rhett after he left her, after she declared her love for him and he told her he didn’t give a damn.

The story begins in 1873, as Melanie, Scarlett’s lifelong friend, is buried and the mourners standing around gossiping about Scarlett, saying she’s “all business, and no heart.” When Atlanta society shuns her, Scarlett is left very much alone. It’s the bane of a strong woman’s existence, that people think she doesn’t care and hate her for it when, in fact, she cares very much though she doesn’t allow herself to show it. Of course, in Gone With The Wind Scarlett was selfish and spurned Rhett’s love when offered. And when she finally realized she loved him, it was too late. He believes she only wants him because he doesn’t want her. But stay tuned…Scarlett is about to grow up.

Where you wanted to slap Scarlett in the movie, now you will want to hug her as she triumphs over trials that would break any other woman on the way to learning how to love.

For much of the 823 pages, the story is told through Scarlett’s perspective. Though Scarlett shows great kindness to others and pursues Rhett because she genuinely loves him, her motives are often misunderstood and others, quick to judge, reject her. Society snubs her and Rhett is cold, even cruel. His only aim is to get out of the marriage, describing her as a drug that will destroy him. (It was easy to see Clark Gable saying those lines.)

The book is divided into four sections, each finding Scarlett in new place:

Lost in the Dark (Atlanta)
High Stakes (Charleston)
New Life (Savannah)
The Tower (Ireland)

Ripley paints a compelling picture of Ireland, its people and their struggles, with wonderful characters, rich dialog and emotional scenes. We mourn the lost history of the O’Hara family as Scarlett seeks to regain her family’s land. And we cheer Scarlett as her incredible intelligence and courage rebuild, at least in part, what was lost.

If you are used to the pace of a normal historical romance, this story may seem a bit meandering. (There are whole chapters where Scarlett and Rhett never encounter each other.) Still, I found it a very satisfying love story and it kept me reading late into the night (two nights in a row!). When the “black moment “ came, it was the blackest I’ve ever experienced. But the ending is a sweet reward.

The book is a treasure. I recommend it!

[Debbie Petersen Wolven · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is disgraceful. Imagine the characters in Margaret Mitchell's classic as watered-down, one dimensional people with none of their original characteristics; add unlikely storylines that border on bizarre; finish with pat, easily predicted ending. Margaret Mitchell must be rolling in her grave. How anyone who loved the first book could feel that this book matches it is beyond my understanding...it would be like comparing an original Degas to a velvet clown painting purchased at a truck stop.

[Lauren⁷ 💜 · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the worst books I've ever read! Don't waste your time or money on this piece of utter rubbish!

[skein · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the worst books ever. (Horatio Alger was a more convincing author.) I like Gone With The Wind - like, not love. What? Don't look at me like that. It's a damn engaging story. The writing is vivid and engaging, the love affairs are tumultuous, and all of the major players are a pain-in-the-ass. But it works. When Rhett dumps Scarlett, it's the perfect, inevitable culmination of their respective characters. Aaaaaannnnnddddddd ... Ripley takes a dump on all that. The ending goes like this:

"Rhett! Oh, Rhett! Won't you come back to me?!"
(Rhett mysteriously appears)
"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn about anything but you."
"Oh, Rhett! I knew you were lying."
"Oh, Scarlett. You are my one true love and not at all a Mary Sue created by the author's incomprehensible need to give a happy ending to the best tragic ending in trashy literature."
(Since they are already on a beach, they strip naked and proceed to get it on.)

[Alexw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow this sequel novel went in a completely different direction form where I thought it would after I read Gone With The Wind and even after watching the movie. I surmised that Scarlet would have given her signature" Fiddle-dee-dee" when Rhett left her and married the richest man see could find to reestablish Tara to its glorious past.
But the novel shows her groveling after Rhett, only leaving him after he pays her in gold and then she goes to Ireland! There the author does something interesting. Scarlett runs guns for the oppressed Irish against the English so instead of oppressing her slaves, she is helping the oppressed fight. She becomes a doting mother which is also amazing as she never gives her 2 children, she left in Tar a second thought.
While the chemistry between Rhett and Scarlett still burns up the pages, most of the rest is fodder for a TV Soap Opera so almost rated it 3 stars.

[heidi · Rating 2 out of 5]

this is an alright book. but don't read it looking for the same humor, wit, intelligence, depth or character building as gone with the wind. it's hard to go from a masterpiece of epic proportions to a follow up novel, so let's not compare them. lets just say, if you want to read one person's interpretation of what could have happened, go for it, it is not a deep read. as far as actual writing and storytelling goes, the ending is severely lacking. it seems as if ripley was under a time crunch and just needed to end it, regardless of the loose ends that needed to be tied up or the lack of character consistencies displayed.

[Mackey · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am not a huge fan of Gone With the Wind, but I honestly can say that this is the worst sequel I ever have had the displeasure of reading. Mitchell's family never should have had allowed this to be written. Horrible story, horribly written - a disgrace to Martha Mitchell.

[AmyintheWind · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's difficult to know how to rate this book. Parts of it really shine. I think I'm frustrated that Ms. Mitchell herself didn't write a sequel to Gone With the Wind, and it's a little hard to know if you're supposed to like a book when some dared to touch such a classic. Over all, I appreciated some of the character development on Scarlett's part. I found it consistent with her character in Gone With the Wind, and consistent with the way a person might "grow up" after having married as young as Scarlett, lived through the war, married twice more, and had three children. In this book Scarlett seemed to finally have some space to figure out who she was and what she wanted.

I did not enjoy the historical aspects of this book nearly as much as those in Gone With the Wind. Perhaps if I was a bit more interested in Irish history (which I may find myself to be someday), I would have enjoyed it more. As it was, I found myself skimming through sections just to find out what happens with the main story. So, from my perspective, the book seemed unnecessarily long.

I *do* love good reunions and happy endings, though, and this books gave us the ending we all longed for in Gone With the Wind.