Rhett Butler's People

Rhett Butler's People by McCraig.

I read Gone with the Wind (GWTW) during my Freshmen year of high school. I read it at home. I read it on the bus. I read it placed discreetly under my desk during Biology. I eagerly awaited the arrival of the prequel Scarlett. On Christmas Eve, my Aunt Camille gave me a copy. My mother had to hold it hostage until we went home - all to ensure that I did not hole up in a wall and read through the family dinner.

GWTW? Politically incorrect? Lacking true reflection on slavery and the South? Guilty. Fantastically mind-boggling great read? Beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Ripley's Scarlett? Scarlett is where a yarn becomes too far-fetched and unbelievable. But I still ate it up. That book was done in a day.

Rhett Butler's People? IDK. Is it that I am an older, more discerning reader than when I read Scarlett? Perhaps.

This book takes on too much. Too much time (two decades) and way too many characters. Although this book focuses on Rhett's perspective and fills in the details of his childhood and youth, it doesn't do much for the character. The stars of the show, in fact, are poorly done in general. Scarlett, Rhett, and Melanie: I was displeased by the characterization of all three. Scarlett came off as being less a determined fire-brand. Rhett was described in detail, and yet the reader still never gains a greater understanding of why he loves Scarlett so much. Or why he considers them uniquely similar. And Melanie? Perhaps the mysterious, saintly aura of Melanie is better than a tepid attempt to tell her side of the story.

Where McCraig does shine is when he isn't focusing on GWTW. A large part of the book focuses on Rosemary Butler, Rhett's younger sister, and her struggles with survival and love. I also really enjoyed reading from Belle's perspective. Quite frankly, these two characters could have separately sustained their own novels.

The beginning of this book dragged on like few do for me. For the first 250 pages, I graded this as an F. The subsequent 150 or so pages picked up quite a bit. The excitement that grew as the pages turned, however, was shattered at the very end. The Klan wants to exact revenge on Rhett, so they vandalize and terrorize Tara. Death and fire ensue. It was just a bit too much. But still, by the end, I was so sad to see Scarlett and Rhett and the remaining GWTW gang go.

Grade: C+/B-