RHETT BUTLER'S PEOPLE by Donald McCraig

Finished late January 2011

This is the sanctioned sequel to GONE WITH THE WIND which was released in 2007. The novel is largely told from the perspective of Rhett Butler, and by and large, the book deals with the same events and timeline of the original novel. However a few new, and captivating characters are introduced which never appeared in Mitchell's book. Andrew Ravanel is a character who is a friend of Rhett's, and is a die-hard supporter of the secessionist movement, and later becomes a member of the Ku Klux Klan. This man has a son, Taz, who was incorrectly believed to be the bastard child of Rhett. Also, Rhett's younger sister, Rosemary, is given a much larger role in the story. McCraig's novel doesn't hold a candle to Margaret Mitchell's stellar achievement, and merely introducing several interesting characters is certainly not reason enough to rewrite an American classic. Reread the original, and don't both with this novel.