A new Wind's a blowin'

“After they made love, Rhett turned to Ashley Wilkes and said, ‘Ashley, have I ever told you that my grandmother was black?’ ”

This was the beginning of the second sequel of Gone With the Wind jokingly proposed by Pat Conroy. The anecdote was retold by Motoko Rich in the New York Times in an interesting article about the Scarlett-like histrionics of the Mitchell estate in securing a satisfactory sequel (which its taken 12 years, three authors and one rejected manuscript to get).

Pat Conroy didn't get his version of the retelling, of course. But Donald McCaig, a former advertising copywriter turned Virginia sheep farmer who has written several novels about the Civil War, did - and Rhett Butler's People will be published in November by St. Martin Press. (I think the title needed a bit more work, Mr. McCaig, with all due respect. But I do like the cover, at least.)

Mr. McCaig took on the commission, he said, out of “six parts hubris and four parts poverty.” (I forgive him for the title with this quote alone.)

According to Rich, the book covers the period from 1843 to 1874 (nearly two decades more than are chronicled in the original). Readers will learn more about Rhett Butler’s childhood on a rice plantation; his relationship with Belle Watling, the brothel madam; and his experiences as a blockade runner in Charleston, S.C. More importantly, we'll get Rhett's side of the story in the famous love affair.

Comments

[Alice]

You forgot to mention my book!

The Wind Done Gone

[Becky]

Mercy, I hope this one's better than SCARLETT.