Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29160 in Books
• Published on: 1993-03-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 848 pages

Synopsis
Picks up the story begun in Margaret Mitchell's classic "Gone With the Wind". What happens to Ashley now that Melanie is gone? Does Scarlett find a way to get Rhett back? What new joys, frustrations and adventures does the future hold?

Customer Reviews

Starts off well . . .
. . . but sadly dawdles towards the middle.
I absolutely love 'Gone With The Wind' and was quite intrigued when I discovered that a sequel had been written and was very happy and satisfied that 'Scarlett' began the morning after Rhett leaves.
The story focuses mainly from Scarlett's point of view like 'Gone With The Wind' and begins with her utter determination to win Rhett back, which eventually leads her to Charleston to meet Rhett's mother and various other family members and friends. This portion of the story, I really enjoyed as it bought a refreshing angle to the old story and the reader gets to enjoy some great interaction between Rhett and Scarlett, especially after the bit in the cave during the storm.
From here, Scarlett travels to Savannah to see her Grandfather Robillard and meets various members of her Father's huge Irish immigrant family. This was about the point that this story (for me) became more standardized romance novel, than timeless love story.
Not wanting to give away any more of the plot, I will move onto my criticism's.

For a start, there are far too many new characters - especially the Irish ones, which sadly tend to blend together even though they are supposed to be exciting and original. Also, many of the new characters seemed to either be stereotyped and un-original or carbon copies of old characters from 'Gone With The Wind' (ex; Scarlett's mother and Rhett's mother are like the same person).
Secondly, some of the situations that occur really do border on trashy romance or just seem so trivial. But the most dissapointing and wholly unbelievable plotline is Scarlett's involvement with the beginnings of the IRA and her relationship with 'Cat' which at times seems like it's straight out of a fanfic.
Lastly, from the very beginning you can tell that Scarlett is not Scarlett and Rhett is not Rhett. They seem to lose their charm and originality and many of their personality traits which any 'Gone With The Wind' fan will notice straight off and that is a real shame.

I'm not saying this a terrible book, because it's not. At times I still found myself rooting for my favourite literary characters and really liked some of the plot twists.
As a romance novel, this does the trick. As a sequel I'm not so convinced.

catt!
i loved this book there are certain places which are iffy! but i love it the way scarlett learns about who she is without changing the scarlett most people love but she gets to no her own heart which i loved i love her relationship with her daughter catt! and yer rhett and her end up together in the end basically she grows up! but yer some parts are iffy!-but theres still that scarlett strength and a force! i liked it somnething i cant picture her saying but love it!-its worth reading

A Worthy Sequel to Gone with the Wind
After watching Gone with the Wind I decided to read the book and it was all the film was and more. I couldn't bear to finish the story there and Margaret Mitchell didn't write a sequel so I bought "Scarlett" and I was glad that I did.

The story was rich and satisfying and a book in its own right. The characters were new and of their time inverwoven with what I already knew of Rhett and Scarlett and their coterie. The story made sense and used what we know and love about the characters' backgrounds to take the story forward.

The only small negative was that I couldn't hear Vivien Leigh's tinkling accent when I read the dialogue. Mitchell's dialogue is unique and I'd have loved Ripley to carry that through to her own novel.

If you loved "Gone with the Wind" you'll want more and "Scarlett" is a worthy sequel.