Scarlett by
Alexandra Ripley
Sequel to Margaret Michell's
Gone With The Wind
This sequel opens at the funeral of Melanie Wilkes. At the funeral, Ashley tries to throw himself into Melanie's grave. When Scarlett restrains him, society decides that Scarlett really was having an affair with him while Melanie was alive, and he becomes a social pariah. When Scarlett goes to Tara after the funeral, she finds Mammy dying. She stays with Mammy for the time that it takes for Mammy to die. While Mammy is dying, she asks for Rhett, who comes and comforts her. Scarlett declares her love for him and is rebuffed. The book goes downhill for the next 700 pages during which Scarlett goes to Charleston to see Rhett's mother, and becomes somewhat accepted by Charlestonian society. Rhett comes to Charleston, is angry to see her, etc. She and Rhett are in a boat that capsizes during a storm, after which they make love and Scarlett once again declares her love, and Rhett, again, rebuffs it. Scarlett becomes ill. After she recovers, she goes to Savannah, to see her grandfather. While she is there, she meets her father's relatives, the O'Haras. They are poor, but much happier than the people Scarlett knows in society. She goes to Ireland, and buys a large amount of land called Ballyhara. There she starts a town her cousin Colum, a revolutionary, turns the town into Fenian headquarters. Scarlett finds out that she is pregnant. She decides to go back to America to tell Rhett, but as she is about to leave, she finds out that Rhett has divorced her, and has remarried. She stays in Ireland and has a daughter Cat, born on Holloween. The townspeople, being a superstitous lot, view Cat as a changling. Scarlett goes into Irish society. She is a hit. Eventually, the townspeople turn against her for going into high society. Rhett's wife dies in childbirth. The child dies too. Rhett goes to Ireland, and finds Scarlett. They get back together again. During their reunion the townspeople blow up the town. Colum dies. Rhett meets his daughter. They go off to live happily ever after. The end.
While this is an enjoyable book, the plot does not seem realistic. It seems strange that Rhett's wife dies so conveniently at the right time. Scarlett seems old (in her late thirties) to be the belle of society. Many parts of the book should have been shortened. The story, although good, is not worth 884 pages.
The heirs to Margaret Mitchells's estate wanted the sequel written, but I dont think that Mitchell herself would have wanted a sequel writtten. The dramatic end to
Gone With The Wind is meant to be an end. It is not supposed to have a happy ending. In
Scarlett, Scarlett is shown maturing, but Mitchell intended the end of
Gone With The Wind to show Scarlett at the hight of her wisdom.
Happy reading
