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| Rhett Butler's People | 
 enlarge | Author: Donald Mccaig
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Category: Book
List Price: $27.95
Buy New: $0.16
You Save: $27.79 (99%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (227 reviews)
Sales Rank: 86955
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 512
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.8
ISBN: 0312262515
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780312262518
ASIN: 0312262515
Publication Date: November 6, 2007
Release Date: November 6, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 A Disappointment.... December 25, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book claims to be the "prequel" to GWTW, focusing on Rhett Butlers past before he meets Scarlet. The book jumps to meeting Scarlet far too early and then follows the GWTW time line (and I use "follows" very loosely). I was led to believe it would delve into his past so we could get to know him better, but it just skims over the majority of his early life relying on confusing flashbacks. When referring to incidences in GWTW the facts are largely incorrect, the author obviously has not read GWTW. If you are reading this as a completely separate book from GWTW it would be good, but this is a prequel and should tie up with the book it was meant to come before. I have read GWTW four times and rate it with the best books you can buy... Please do not waste your time and money on this poor imitation of the GWTW prequel, the Margaret Mitchell family made a grave error in allowing this book to be published.
 A Good Addition to the Story and a Story able to stand on it's own. December 19, 2008
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
I liked this sequel. It can stand on its own as a story and it sheds light on the complexities of life and culture in antebellum Charleston, South Carolina.
There are people who will never accept any sequel to Mitchell's work as valid. They are entitled to their opinions, of course. However, I am of the opinion that there are things that needed to be said in the context of Mitchell's earlier work--and McCain says them in this novel.
For instance, Mitchell herself was such a product of her culture, class and the times in which she lived that she simply did not allow for the fact that most reasonable people would not think that the KKK was a respectable organization or that most would think that the Freedmen's Bureau was not intrinsically evil. And, while she spends a lot of time describing the hardships suffered by Southern whites during the Reconstruction Era, she makes no mention of the violence done to blacks during that time--beyond their being made dupes of the Radical Republicans. People of Georgia's working class are usually dismissed with labels like "cracker."
Like most current-day students of history, McCaig is not only willing to include the history of people of color and average people generally in his written work, he has deemed it necessary to show how people other than those of the elite class are impacted by the events of their times and how they shape the world in which they live. In McCaig's book, Southern blacks are real people with real relationships and concerns. Belle Watling isn't just a prostitute who enjoys Rhett's friendship and occasionally his sexual attention, she is a human being with a relatively normal history and life of her own. As a result, we are able to understand how she became a madame and what her relationship to Rhett truly is. People of color and non-elites are not objectified by McCaig; they are three-dimensional, living beings.
Again, there are people who think that Mitchell's work is sacrosanct and, thus, will never approve of any sequel. But, for the reader who likes historical fiction about this region and period, for that person who is interested in gaining some insight into those times, I recommend "Rhett Butler's People."
Don't Bother December 13, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I was so excited to read this book but about 1/3 of the way through I put it down. I don't usually do that so you can believe this was awful.
Started off well... December 5, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I was intrigued by the concept of this novel as I have always loved GWTW. It started off beautifully, weaving a tapestry of answers to long-pondered questions and lending depth to Rhett Butler. The relationship between Rhett and Belle and the mystery of her son's father was entertaining, as were revelations of Ashley's real feelings for Scarlett. I had such high hopes!
As the novel lumbered on, I was reading just to finish the beast.
Numerous times my eyebrows raised with an incredulous "WHAT?!"
By the last fourth of the book, I am convinced that either the author gave up or that someone else finished the book for him. The tone of the novel completely changes. The events in synchronicity with the original, where a fan of GWTW like myself would have welcomed more backstory, were rushed through in order to reach a ridiculously implausible end... Rhett drunk and crazy in Europe with Scarlett penniless and working the cotton fields again... a preposterous scene where Scarlett and Rosemary go to the market to accuse the Watling gang and are "rescued" by Ashley and Will.
And burning down Tara? Seriously?!?
To add insult to serious injury, suddenly the dialogue in the book takes a turn for the ridiculous and we are expected to buy into conversation not in keeping with the first three quarters of the novel. With striking suddeness, Rhett and Scarlett become unrecognizable. I can't even begin to address what the author did to poor Melanie, whose innocence and unfailing trust is dashed to the ground.
SUCH a disappointment.
Read Alexandra Ripley's Scarlett instead.
And if you must reat Rhett Butler's People, STOP at chapter 50, when the author loses his mind.
Insulting and Disgraceful December 1, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Everyone involved in this book should be ashamed, as it is so obviously intended solely to make money off of GWTW fans. I fail to understand why the Mitchell estate selected this writer, who did not even bother to do a close reading of the original. And where was the editor?! There are so many errors in timing and details, I can't believe they weren't corrected. Everything from the color of Ashley's eyes (grey, not brown!) to the timing of when Scarlett sold him the mills, to major plot points being left out completely. It's insulting to those of us who love GWTW, and the author and editor(if there actually was one!) had to have known that readers would notice (and be annoyed by) these details.
And don't get me started on the anachronistic speech and utterly ridiculous interpretation of Melanie's character. Awful, awful, awful.
I'm sure that, like me, fans of GWTW will feel they have to read this book, but just be prepared to feel some righteous indignation. I'm tempted to write my own book!
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