Rhett Butler's People: The Authorized Novel based on Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind Paperback – October 7, 2014

The author wrote a superb novel with a combination of entertainment and factual events!

I liked that it followed the original book, but did it from a different perspective. It also has lots of surprises.

I don't know why the estate of Margaret Mitchell asked for this prequel. Perhaps it is that we live in times in which the series is the rule rather than the exception. Perhaps they were, as some have said, disgusted with "Scarlett".Whatever the reason, I am impressed, although here and there a tiny bit of editing would be in order. I won't sully the beginning of this review by voicing these objections, because it would not be true to my feelings for this very interesting and informative book, which completely succeeds in partnering the female-angled GWTW. It is a story which lets Rhett be the man we suspected he was: large-minded, and at the same both unprejudiced towards so-called inferiors and without illusions about fools. He is indeed a hero.The author has the respect for evidence of the writer of a good detective novel. He builds up to scenes which later emerge recognizably as being in the original book. The backstory is frequently more interesting than Mitchell's. One example is the shooting of Klansman Frank Kennedy and the subsequent disguise of Klan activities as roistering times in Belle Watling's establishment. In fact, the whole relationship with Belle Watling is a long and deep one for Rhett. Another part of the book is the development of a whole world of the vanished South, taking in Atlanta, Charleston and New Orleans, as well as the Caribbean. I would not have gotten much of that from Mitchell, though I did from Kate Chopin in her Creole stories. This author is generous in his references to that world, and his understanding of that economy makes us aware that what we see today may be gone tomorrow, even as it seems permanent. The bodies of New Orleans yellow fever victims are linked to those of Katrina, in my view. Just as Margaret Mitchell wanted to talk about the Great Depression through the eyes of her Civil War era grandmother, on whom Scarlett was based, I think we can see ourselves in this book. When young Rhett Butler has come back disappointed from a foray into Cuba, in order to overthrow the Spanish there (long before the later war launched by William Randolph Hearst), he regrets that he had believed "we would be greeted as liberators."In a way, I see his point and Mitchell's: things fall apart and it takes a very strong ego to get through them and understand what has happened. Both Scarlett and Rhett are survivors. This story tells what it is like to be a male survivor of the loss of one's society. The character who seems to unite these two concepts is Rhett's sister, Rosemary, who often foreshadows Scarlett, making her less unique, more of a type from a certain place and time. It kind of takes Scarlett off her pedestal, but it also explains why Rhett, who loves and understands this sister, would be attracted to someone like her in Scarlett, no matter the insults to him. He sticks with Scarlett because he understands her better than she understands herself.I have found this a very agreeable book to read, rarely didactic or moralizing. You really feel you are with a man who knows his way around the world, and who has a fine balance and who is likely to clear the highest and most dangerous jumps. Those who object to a line here or there which strikes them as out of character are, I think, a little too picky to enjoy a feast. I'd dine at Antoine's with this Rhett any time.Okay but these carping critics never even caught this - and where pray tell was the editor? - Andrew Johnson WAS impeached (just like Clinton was). The House impeaches, the Senate tries the President. Both Clinton and Johnson were acquitted by the Senate. I suppose this matter was passed over by the critics because none of them understood McCaig's mistake when he said they had "tried" to impeach Johnson over Reconstruction. His discussion of that era is in other ways very well done. His Civil War scenes are also highly evocative, especially the killing of civilians during attacks on Charleston, South Carolina (undoubtedly taken from newspaper accounts, with stark realism), and the aftermath of skirmishes where again, civilians are forced to deal with the carnage. In the end, you can see where southern "hysteria" and PTSD got started.It's a very worthwhile book. I hope it will find readers for years and years.

Rhett Butler’s People is by Donald McCaig. This novel is a magnificent addition to the Gone With the Wind saga written by Margaret Mitchell. This novel, however, takes the character of Rhett Butler and expands his personality and character. Although Margaret Mitchell creates a dashing figure in Rhett Butler, her focus is on Scarlett and not on Rhett, so her description of him is somewhat lacking. Donald McCaig takes the character she creates and adds to his story, both prior to meeting Scarlet and after leaving her. We see his abusive childhood where much of his dare-devil ways are created along with his “who cares” attitude. Through his own words and actions, we see how his reputation was formed and shaped to fit the one he wants; although in reality, it may not be the one he really wants.The story that Margaret Mitchell writes is about Scarlett and Donald lets her story reclaim its place in Rhett’s life. He vaguely mentions events and then gives us details of how Rhett saw those details and that event. Then, we enter the world of both characters after Rhett leaves Scarlett and Scarlett returns to Tara. However, she doesn’t return alone and those new characters continue to stay for a variety of reasons.I highly recommend this book be added to the Gone With the Wind selections. It is interesting and adds to the reading about this period of time in our history.

For fans of "Gone With the Wind," it is inevitable that "Rhett Butler's People," the authorized novel based on Margaret Mitchell's classic tale, will prove to be disappointing. But that does not mean that fans should avoid Donald McCaig's novel, because time and time again you will get to come to your own judgment regarding what he is doing with these character. What will be most surprising is that the Mitchell estate has decided that this book, which begins before and ends after the events in "GWTW," has nothing to do with Alexandra Ripley's "Scarlett: The Sequel to Margaret Mitchell's 'Gone With the Wind'," the first novel authorized by the estate. These books were mandated not so much by a desire to find out what happened next, what with the "will she or won't she?" ending of the original representing the epitome of literary ambiguity, but by the necessity of maintaining a copyright over the character. That means that Katie Scarlett O'Hara Hamilton Kennedy Butler, one of the iconic female characters in literature (along with Emma Bovary), has been reduced to being more like Tarzan and Superman, where there are competing visions that are supposed to be accepted on their own terms. Does this mean that there will be authorized novels in which anything goes, where Scarlett runs off with Ashley and such? It sure looks like the Mitchell estate has opened a bigger can of worms with the publication of this second authorized novel than it did with the first one.I read "Scarlett" so I knew I was going to read this book as well and studiously avoided reading reviews, comments, or diatribes on McCaig's book. When I picked it up to read it I paid less attention to the title than the claim on the back of the dustcover (which I always remove so that nothing happens to it and so that I do not read anything about the book) that this was "The Other Side of the Greatest Love Story Ever Told" (Take that Wm. Shakespeare). My expectation was that McCaig would be doing with Scarlett and Rhet what Orson Scott Card did with Ender and Bean when he wrote "Ender's Shadow" as a parallel novel to "Ender's Game." So I was looking forward to, for example, finding out exactly what Rhett did during his service to the Confederacy after he left Scarlett and company on the road to Tara. But I discovered that the title of the book was no lie, and there is more about what characters who did not exist in "GWTW" did during the war then there is about Rhett himself in that regard. I knew that Belle Watling would be a more pivotal character from Rhett's side of the story, and I suspected that Belle's son in New Orleans would play a prominent role, which proves to be the case. In fact, the book begins with a young Rhett Butler about to have a duel with Belle's brother, who has accused Rhett of getting her pregnant. Rhett has denied paternity, and since we believe him the question of paternity becomes the book's biggest mystery. I thought I had it figured out, keying on the idea that the boy bears a physical resemblance to Rhett and thinking that it would explain the animosity between Rhett and his father, but I proved to be wrong and the disclosure of the truth ended up being so inconsequential that it did not seem worth the effort.Since he is not trying to tell the story of "GWTW" from Rhett Butler's vantage point, McCaig puts himself in a position of being damned if he does and damned if he doesn't by introducing new characters. The most prominent of these would be Rhett's younger sister, Rosemary, whose correspondence with Miss Melly and closeness to her brother make it improbable (retroactively speaking, of course), for her not to have been mentioned in "GWTW" (although she does appear in "Scarlett"). However, other creations, such as Rhett's friends Andrew Ravanel and John Haynes, end up to be not worth the bother, especially since McCaig creates the former by borrowing from the history of a real Confederate raider. I liked the irony of what becomes of Ashley Wilkes, but have no doubt that what will offend "GWTW" fans the most will be the depiction of Miss Melly in this book (I totally dismiss attacks on McCaig for using language appropriate to the racism of the time). You can understand how Scarlett becomes a minor character in this book, since this time the focus is on Rhett, but Melanie Wilkes becomes a different character and everything she writes just rings wrong to me. What happens with Archie Flytte before and after what is in "GWTW" strikes a note of discord as well. On the plus side, Mammy does not die at the start of this one and there are certainly other things that you can willingly incorporate into your expanded version of the story of Rhett and Scarlett.In terms of what happens with Rhett and Scarlett when we finally get to the long awaited tomorrow that is another day, I prefer Ripley's version to McCaig, and not just because she uses an entire book to get to the next fade out whereas he takes less than 100 pages (remember how much Mitchell throws at Scarlett in the last 100 pages of "GWTW"). I was actually intrigued by the notion that Scarlett would go to Ireland and become "the O'Hara," which made sense given how much she cut across the grain of Southern decorum, even during Reconstruction. However, both Ripley and McCaig achieve their reconciliations by circling Scarlett through her past for second pass at Rhett (not to mention throwing in a big fire for good measure). For Ripley that is through another pregnancy resulting from what we will politely call ravishment, while McCaig not only sends Scarlett back to Tara but essentially sends Tara back to where it was at the end of the war (Scarlett might never be hungry again, but that does not mean her cotton picking days are over). I also do not like seeing who gets killed in the final chapters of "Rhett Butler's People," and it was this stark contrast with the litany of death at the end of "GWTW" that made me knock down the rating on this book to the point where rounding up or down was moot. However, none of this is intended to dissuade you from reading the book, because you should make up your own mind about what happens here and there is definitely plenty for you to make up your mind about before the next authorized novel comes out a decade or so from now ("GWTW" from the perspective of either Melanie and/or Ashley or Mammy and/or Prissy would be my guess, because I can see all of those working). Plus reading this book will probably inspire you to go back and read the original, which is always a good thing.

Se situe avant et pendant "Gone with the wind", contrairement à "Scarlet" qui est plutôt une suite

This book was everything I hoped it would be and more! The back stories answered questions and helped the reader understand characters from the original book. It was an entertaining read!

Very good book. Easy to read and a spanking good story. Nice to hear Rhetts side.

Not muy style. Not true to the original. Not credible characters. Boring

Sinceramente mi aspettavo di piu'! L'ho letto sulla spiaggia, devo dire senza annoiarmi, pero' secondo me, oltre ad essere totalmente privo di un qualsiasi valore letterario, e' molto "forzato"....mi spiego: la mia sensazione e' che l'unica preoccupazione dell'autore sia stata quella di riempire in qualche modo il maggior numero possibile di pagine! Forse lo pagavano "un tanto al chilo"? Manca un qualsiasi approfondimento psicologico: i personaggi sono tutti stereotipi!Quel che accade molto spesso e' del tutto scontato e ne viene fuori, appunto, un "fumettone"