Rhett Butler's People by Donald McCaig

Age Level: Adult
Format: Book

Ever wonder about the man behind one of the best known love stories of all time? Margaret Mitchell's Rhett Butler comes alive in this novel based on Mitchell's Gone With the Wind. McCaig takes readers through Butler's life, from his boyhood in the Low Country of South Carolina, to his first encounter with Scarlett O'Hara at Twelve Oaks Plantation, to the Civil War and beyond. Butler's family is introduced, as well as the reasons behind Butler's relationship with Belle Watling.

For those who do not like recreations or adaptations of famous stories, you may not like this novel. It is very hard to take a story so well known as Gone With the Wind and create an adaptation for it. Alexandra Ripley tried this several years ago with Scarlett, which to some readers proved disasterous. McCaig creates new situations in which Rhett and Scarlett encounter one another and at times rewrites scenes from Gone With the Wind, though this might have been done since he could not take Mitchell's words verbatim and use them in his novel. McCaig also creates a different ending to the story, an ending in conflict with Mitchell's novel. Characters' personalities differ between Gone With the Wind and Rhett Butler's People. However, the incite into Butler's family and his escapades are very intersting. If you want to figure out the mystery behind Butler, read this book.

If you read the reviews on Amazon.com, people either really love this novel, or they absolutely hate it. For me, I was extremely curious to read something authorized by Margaret Mitchell's estate. I was a little disappointed with some of the scenes in this novel, but overall, I thought this to be an okay read. If you are interested in reading this novel and have never read Gone With the Wind, I suggest reading Gone With the Wind first. Knowing the plot line for Mitchell's novel will help in understanding some of the situations found in Rhett Butler's People.

Reviewed by Jessica